


the sands of Harasa

by aquarius_galuxy



Series: sword to my shield [8]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: M/M, this camping trip will restore your faith in humanity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-12 11:19:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 73,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5664223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aquarius_galuxy/pseuds/aquarius_galuxy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They land in a desert world. Everyone adapts... until they can't.</p><p>
  <em>
    <img/>
  </em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Lesson on Cacti

**Author's Note:**

> **Spoilers:** Arcs up to and including Celes  
>  **Warnings:** Rated T for now, may be bumped in the future if there's sex involved.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

Air prickled hot and dry against his skin. It wafted about his head like an invisible haze, sapping his energy away the longer he sat in it. It felt as if he was losing moisture with each dusty breath he took, dry air in and wet air out. The people back at the slow-moving marketplace had not been lying; two hours in this world and his lips had become chapped. His skin felt far too tight on his body.

Kurogane swallowed, stepped gently on the brakes as they neared a fork in the flat dirt road. In the rear view mirror, clouds of dust obscured the path they'd just driven down.

"I think we should take a right." Syaoran looked up from the crinkling map, and Kurogane nodded. He stepped on the gas pedal once more, tugged lightly on the steering wheel.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

"Tick, tick, Kuro-pon is driving. Tick, tick, we should all, tick, tick, cheer him on, tick, tick."

"Shut up," Kurogane said. He craned his neck to glare over his shoulder briefly. It was far too hot for crap like this, and the incessant clicking of the turn signal did not help. Even Syaoran had tried taking a look at the circuits, but the two suns of Harasa had been bearing down on them, and they were all better off inside the car and on the road, faulty electrical circuit be damned.

The wizard and the princess were strapped into the backseat of the car, silly smiles on their faces. Fai's cheeks were flushed from the heat. "Does Kuro-tan get angry so easily?"

"Kuro-tan should sing along," Mokona said from her perch on Kurogane's shoulder, and he swatted her off irritatedly. She sailed into the back, squealing.

"Either help, or shut up," he growled, turning back to face the dusty road.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

They had been thrown from world to world ever since they left Yama. First, Mokona had brought them back to Shara, although it had been an entirely different place when they arrived. Where the atmosphere had been depressive and saturated with belligerence, and where the statue of Yasha had cried tears of blood, there was instead a wedding in the new Shara, and the statues of Ashura and Yasha had been placed together. It was disorienting. The kids had figured out that they'd traveled back in time and forward again, and it was an alien concept that Kurogane still had yet to fully comprehend.

He had not the chance to question Fai about either Ashura when Mokona's wings soared, and they were thrown into this new world, right in the middle of a busy marketplace. People had shrieked; Fai had grinned at them and put up the friendly act, and they'd slipped away to a quiet alley. From there, they'd figured that there was indeed a feather in this world, and that it was a long ways off from where they'd landed.

Fai had used their savings from Yama to purchase a car. Kurogane had looked at the other options—little dirt bikes, or foot travel—and decided that this was the best route they could take. The bikes did not have enough storage space for them to bring along a week's worth of food.

So, they were all riding in a worn, sturdy car, which creaked in some places and which had a turn signal that never stopped clicking from the moment he turned the ignition on. (It had been fortunate that they'd learned the basics of operating a vehicle in the flying rock world. Driving on the ground was a combination of driving a flying car and steering a horse.) What mattered most, however, was that it provided blessed shade, and they had supplies to last them for days until they found the feather.

Kurogane could live with that.

As it was, the kids had taken exceptionally well to the heat. Syaoran had suggested that the princess's body remembered the soaring desert temperatures; they'd both put their thick, white robes on without complaint. Fai had made a face and whined a little, but Kurogane couldn't deny that the robe was a damn lot more comfortable than the leather and armor they'd been traveling in, remnants from their time in Yama.

The even road petered out into gravel and loose rock suddenly. Kurogane swore as the vehicle began to tremble, windshield and windows alike. All he heard was the deafening rumble of the vehicle's parts grating against one another. The stiff seats transferred the jarring vibrations into their bones, and he gripped the steering wheel tight in case it wrenched out of his grip.

"—down!"

"What?" he yelled back over the rattling, glancing at the boy from the corner of his eye.

Syaoran cupped his hands around his mouth. "Slow down!"

Kurogane hit the brakes. They were all thrown forward, seat belts jerking them back, and someone had to have caught Mokona because she wasn't flattened against the inside of the windshield.

"Kuro-wan doesn't drive very well," Fai whined from the back. "Bad dog."

"Will you shut up," he hissed, before turning back to Syaoran. The boy tensed beneath his glare. "What?"

"I didn't say to stop, Kurogane-san," he stammered, waving his hands frantically. "Just go slow. The people at the market said you can't go more than... ten miles an hour when there isn't a road."

He hadn't heard that. He'd probably been distracted with checking that the car was working decently when the kid asked around for information. Kurogane frowned. "Why?"

"It's best for the car. We'll use less fuel this way, too."

"Kuro-daddy shouldn't go too fast, it makes the children scared!"

Kurogane twisted at his waist, turned to glare at eyes so brightly blue they were almost glowing at him. "If you don't intend to be useful," he snarled, "shut the hell up."

Fai's smile was flat. He looked away, out of the window. "Maybe Kuro-rin shouldn't listen to me, then."

The wizard was still angry with him. He swore again, wished they weren't tied down inside the car so he could beat some sense into the idiot, but there were more pressing matters to attend to. It figured that Fai would lay blame on him for listening to his monologue, when Kurogane had finally, finally understood him after six months of incomprehensible babble. If he didn't have so many damn secrets in the first place, maybe he wouldn't need to worry about being heard.

Kurogane turned his attention back on the road, got the car moving again, albeit at a slower pace. He couldn't read the numbers on the dashboard gauges. "What's ten miles on this?" he asked, jerking his chin towards the various dials.

Syaoran strained against his seat belt, squinting at the different characters behind the plastic dashboard screen before pointing one out. Kurogane nodded his thanks. True to the kid's words, the rattling was more bearable at this speed, and they weren't bumping around in their seats as much. It did seem to take forever to travel any decent amount of distance, however, and he could tell when Fai began to shift restlessly despite his attempts at chatter.

The landscape around them had been the same for the last hour or so—flat dirt ground interspersed with low brush, nothing like the sand dunes the children had grown up with. A low, black ridge rose up on their left, almost a wall, and there were large clumps of black rock spotting the plains. Far in the distance, low hills broke the straight line of the horizon, a mix of dark and light grey. There weren't any animals that he could see. Civilization had long been left behind, and it was eerily quiet all around them, past the crunching of gravel beneath tires.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

"Is it always this quiet?" he asked.

Syaoran nodded. "When you travel far out enough that there aren't people anymore, you'll only hear the wind. Maybe some insects."

The boy had been adamant that the dangers of the desert were in the sheer harshness of the environment, and he could see why. It was late morning; the suns had not fully risen, and it was already unbearably hot. It wasn't humid, though. Kurogane acknowledged that it could be worse.

He lapsed into silence. Fai changed the subject of his monologue, describing the animal comics that he'd drawn during their time in Yama. Hearing him speak now, after having listened to the man for a good six months, Kurogane knew that he wasn't faking the softness to his tone. Fai had spoken like that sometimes, his voice mellow, as if he'd been reminiscing about pleasant things. He never looked at Kurogane during those times, though, so Kurogane was certain that the wizard didn't harbor any softness towards him. (It was fine. Really.)

"...and so Big Doggy turned into a grumpy tall man. Big Doggy liked his children a lot, you know. A little kitty and a little puppy. There was a big kitty too, but Big Doggy just barked at him a lot."

"That cat was the damn wizard," Kurogane said.

"Oh?" Thin fingers tapped him lightly on the head. "Clever dog."

He sighed and ignored the blond, listening only when Syaoran and Sakura talked. It rankled, the little slights Fai threw at him now. Kurogane had been bewildered when the wizard became subtly acid in his retorts, even though he'd made his mistake worlds ago. Dragging Fai to a side and asking had only earned him a closed look and a thin smile, and Kurogane didn't know how he could reverse this. Would telling Fai what he'd heard put him back in the idiot's good graces? Did he want to resort to that?

(All the same, he wanted a moment with the witch when he had the chance.)

They drove on for another half hour or so before the gravel road faded away completely. Kurogane slowed the vehicle down, glanced towards Syaoran. Of the group, the kid could read maps best; the maps of Nihon had none of the criss-crossing straight lines and roads and redundant detail on the map Syaoran held. "Where next?"

Mokona hopped back onto his shoulder, waving toward the hills they'd slowly been approaching. "Mokona senses the feather! It's a bit closer now, behind this hill."

"Past that, huh?" He surveyed the land ahead of them. There were smaller shrubs between taller plants, and he'd heard the locals say something about "off road" back at the marketplace. Kurogane took that to mean he could drive over the littler shrubs.

The vehicle slowed to a crawl when he steered them around boulders and over deep ruts in the ground. His senses stretched out wide, searching for predators, and even the conversation in the car had gone silent.

"If it isn't too far away, maybe we should walk instead?" Fai said quietly from behind. "It doesn't seem like we're making much progress here. Sakura-chan can walk faster than this, can't you?"

Kurogane frowned. Syaoran shook his head. "No," the boy said. "It might seem like a short distance, but distances in the desert are deceiving. I think we're still a long way away from those hills."

He had to admit that the boy was right. They'd spent the last ten minutes meandering around large bushes, and Kurogane was sorely tempted to drive right over them, but Syaoran had warned against doing that, too. "The supplies are heavy," he said. "No point carrying them right now. We still have fuel left."

(The responsibility of transporting their food and water would have fallen to him, too, because the kids would not have been able to manage it all, and he couldn't trust Fai to pull his weight right now.)

The car listed to a side when two tires rolled onto a low ledge. "I should cut a path through this," Kurogane grumbled, impatient. "Fewer damn plants to drive over."

There weren't any protests to that. He got out of the car soon after, unsheathed Souhi, and loosed a wind attack in the direction they were headed. It felt good to stretch his muscles, to feel energy coursing through his body. Kurogane cracked his eyes open when the wind and dust died down, bringing a hand up to cut the glare from the sun. A clear path stretched out half a mile ahead of them, with a few large rocks edging its sides. Satisfied, he headed back to the driver-side door.

Only to have pain stabbing suddenly into his foot, high and sharp. "Fuck!"

He jerked his leg up, rocked back onto his other foot. There hadn't been needles on the ground. What he found, instead, was a fuzzy—spiny—green lump stuck to the underside of his shoe. How deep the spines had embedded in his foot, he didn't know. He set a hand on the hood of the car, snatched it off scorching metal with a louder curse.

"The hell is wrong with this place?"

"Kurogane-san?" A car door clicked shut. Syaoran picked his way over carefully, both eyes on the ground. Kurogane glowered at the boy, lowered himself onto the plastic front bumper of the car instead, foot dangling awkwardly in midair. It did not help that the suns' rays stung at every bit of exposed skin.

"The hell is this?" He jabbed a finger irately at the plant (at least, he thought it was one). On closer observation, there really was no visible handhold on the spiny ball. Ivory, hairlike needles covered every inch of it, save for the flat break in its stem, and he could not touch it without having his fingers perforated ten times over.

"Oh," Syaoran breathed as he came up next to Kurogane. "It's a cactus. I'm sorry, I didn't think to warn you about these—"

"Save it. How do I get it out?" The question came out harsher than he intended, and the boy flinched. "Look, the sooner we get out of the sun, the better off we'll be."

They'd been sunburnt before. Kurogane wasn't looking forward to going through that again, especially this soon into their time here. It wouldn't be the worst thing to happen, but.

The other doors on the car opened, concerned faces peeking out. "Kuro-rin?" Fai called. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Shut up and get back inside," he snapped, at the same time Syaoran supplied, "it's a cactus, Fai-san."

Kurogane glared at the kid. It wasn't his fault, but he didn't need the damn fucking idiot traipsing over to poke at his wounds, when all they had to do was get it out and get going. The wound in his foot was throbbing. "It's nothing. Sit back inside."

"A... cactus?" Fai's door was still open, as was Sakura's, though the princess wore a sympathetic wince. Mokona was clinging onto the ends of her hair. "What's that?"

The wizard got out of the car. Kurogane wanted to groan. "Just let me get this thing off in peace, damn it!"

"Watch where you step," Syaoran said hurriedly, moving around Kurogane so he could attempt to head Fai off. "Don't step on anything furry—"

"Do you mean one of these?"

Kurogane glanced up in a mix of spite and trepidation. He didn't want Fai hurt, but _damn_ if that idiot didn't need a lesson. To his dismay (relief?) Fai had jabbed a thin stick into another green, spiny lump, and was peering dubiously at it.

Syaoran grimaced. "Yes. Put that down, Fai-san."

The idiot attempted to shake it off his stick. Kurogane saw the instant that became a bad idea, when Syaoran paled, and the spiny ball went flying into the air, right towards him.

He reacted on instinct, snatched Souhi out of its sheath with a hiss. All of them watched as he sliced cleanly through the woody plant, altering its course so one half fell harmlessly to his side, and the other landed on the car hood and rolled off.

"Oops?" Fai had the decency to look sheepish.

Kurogane swore again. If his foot wasn't already a pincushion, he'd be slicing that idiot into bits right now. "Get back inside. And stay in."

"But Syaoran-kun said—"

"Get. In. Now." Kurogane glared. "Before you turn into a crisp and I cut you into bite-sized pieces."

Fai opened his mouth, then thought better and shut it. Kurogane seethed, glanced at Syaoran. The boy winced. "Right. The best way to get a cactus out is to use a comb, but I don't think we have one—"

"Mokona has a comb!" The meat bun hopped up from somewhere, landing neatly on his shoulder. Not for the first time, Kurogane wondered if she was susceptible to physical damage. He'd attempted to squeeze the life out of her, and she'd been none the worse for wear. Would she be hurt by a sword? By magic?

She spat out a purple, glittery, plastic comb from one of the other worlds, that Fai had got for Sakura at a shop selling secondhand wares. They'd bought better combs since, ones that actually looked respectable, and this had been all but forgotten. Kurogane grabbed it out of the air, eased its blunt teeth between the dense spines of the cactus. A sharp tug later, the fuzzy ball dislodged, leaving white specks on the shoe where the spines had broken off.

"That looks painful," Mokona cried softly, scrunching her face up.

Kurogane shrugged and tugged his shoe off. "No big deal."

One of the car doors opened again, and Kurogane was picking unsuccessfully at the stubs of cactus spines when a shadow fell over him.

"Need some help, Kuro-pon?" Fai was frowning, lower lip pushed out in a pout. He looked vaguely torn, like he couldn't decide if he wanted to remain holding his grudge. "I thought I should apologize for earlier."

There were many things he could apologize for, and for a moment, Kurogane wondered how Fai would react if he were more severely injured. The cactus spines were a minor setback; they hurt whenever he put pressure on them, and they would be a pain when he next drove. Aside from that, they weren't something a ninja of his stature couldn't deal with.

"It's nothing," he ended up saying, shoving his foot back into his shoe. Already, his skin was hot, prickling beneath the harsh sunlight. "We'll keep going."

"But your foot—"

"Stand out here any longer, idiot, and you're going to burn." He flicked his gaze upwards, met Fai's eyes. "You aren't going to shut up if that happens."

Fai blinked at him, comprehension dawning on his features. "Kuro-puu cares about me," he said with a half-smile, disbelieving. "How very sweet of—"

"Look, why don't you drive. I still have spines in my foot." He'd said it so he didn't have to hear the ring of truth in the wizard's words, though all the same, it would be nice if Fai shouldered some of this responsibility.

Fai slithered away, a brighter smile pasted on his face. "Of course not. Kuro-myu needs all the practice he can get to be a good ninja."

"I'm already a good ninja," he shot back, watching as Fai slipped back into his seat, car door slamming solidly shut. Kurogane sighed. He tested his tread gingerly, found that the spines embedded in his foot still hurt, but the injury wasn't anything debilitating. So, he returned to the wheel, started the car up again.

Fai had struck up a conversation with the kids, which Kurogane tuned out as he drove them down the cleared path. This brought them back to the previous speed of ten miles an hour—still painfully slow, though at least it was quicker than driving around damnable rocks the entire time. When they got to the end of the path, Kurogane got out of the car again, cleared the next stretch of land, and brought them onward. (He made sure to look before setting his foot down.)

It seemed almost too easy, this rinse-and-repeat pattern of clearing brush so they could make progress. Thus far, there had been no monsters nor strange weather patterns, despite what the people in the city had warned them about. Fai kept the general atmosphere in the car light, doling out water on occasion to the kids first, then Kurogane, and if there was any left in the bottle, to himself.

When they stopped for a short toilet break and Sakura came back for Mokona, a pinched look about her face, Kurogane frowned.

"What's wrong?" Fai asked, leaning forward in concern. There really wasn't very much privacy at all in the open desert, so the rest of them had decided to stay in the car, and have the princess keep to the dusty dirt road behind them.

"It's... well, it's nothing," she said uncomfortably. "I'm bleeding again."

All eyes in the vehicle snapped onto her.

"It's... it's nothing unusual, right?" Fai asked. "I— Well, Kuro-rin and I spent six months in Yama... I've lost track of how long it's been for you. Is everything okay?"

She nodded, cradling Mokona close to herself. Bright red dusted her cheeks. "I'm fine, Fai-san."

They watched as she hurried off to the back of the car, and Fai cleared his throat.

"Kurogane-san, how did you and Fai-san communicate in Yama?" Syaoran asked suddenly, eyes bright with curiosity. "Fai-san mentioned the comics..."

"That was easy. We mimed things," the wizard said, shoving his fingers into his hair and scrubbing at his scalp. "This meant bathing, for example, and this meant eating."

Kurogane snorted when Fai pretended to chew. "I'm surprised you even learned five words."

"Idiot," Fai said, and it was slightly mispronounced, even now.

Syaoran blinked. "That carried an accent. I didn't think Mokona's translation matrix would do that."

"There seem to be certain things Mokona doesn't translate fully," Fai agreed. He settled back into his seat, pinched his cloak up and wriggled it around to circulate air against his skin. "This is the hottest place we've been to so far, isn't it? It's so hot that I want to take all my clothes off!"

Kurogane didn't believe his teasing lilt for a second. Syaoran, however, stiffened and stared at Fai in horror.

"Don't believe him," he said to the boy.

"I didn't think Kuro-sama would be so immune to my charms," Fai whined, pouting and slipping a finger along the collar of his robe so he exposed the sharp edge of a clavicle. He wasn't looking at Kurogane, however, and that was enough of an indication that Fai remembered what they most certainly did not have going on between them.

(Kurogane wasn't entirely immune, no. They both knew that.)

"I didn't expect Ashura to treat you well," Kurogane said to the boy, watching Fai from the corner of his eye. The wizard tensed briefly, made himself relax. "What's he like?"

Syaoran glanced between him and Fai, setting the map down on his lap. "Ashura-ou was a very good host. Sakura-hime was able to get some rest in a comfortable chamber, and we were given a lot of delicious food."

"Did you just accept that food?" Kurogane narrowed his eyes. Syaoran hesitated, like a rabbit sighting a predator. "Don't be so trusting, kid. That king let his men die for him without batting an eyelid. Can't trust everyone you meet."

"Kuro-daddy is all concerned about his children, hyuu!" There was a flicker of honest delight in blue eyes. "How caring of him!"

"Shut up," he hissed, glowering at the blond. A quick glance through the windows showed no movement, nothing around that would attack the princess while they were supposed to give her space.

"I didn't see Kuro-rin being suspicious about the food in the Yama camp," Fai pointed out slyly, reaching out to prod his shoulder with a slender, hard finger. It was the first time Fai had touched him since grabbing him around the neck on Shura, and Kurogane welcomed it.

"They weren't going to poison all the soldiers. Don't be an idiot." Kurogane turned back to the boy. "Remember that the next time we aren't around. Though it's not like this idiot can do anything to save his life."

Syaoran nodded earnestly. Fai pouted. "I won't leave them to die, Kuro-pyon. Don't be mean."

"I didn't say you would." Fai would save the kids' lives, anyone he liked, really, except his own. Kurogane stared at him, at his chapped, red lips and bright eyes, and Fai gulped, looked away.

Syaoran shifted, as if he could feel the abrupt tension bubbling up between them, and Kurogane looked to the back windows again.

Sakura stood up suddenly. He couldn't see much of her through the tinted window except the raised hood of her cloak. She made no move to return to the car, however. Instead, she appeared to be staring straight ahead of herself, nary moving an inch. There was something in front of her. Big, and mostly underground.

"Shit," Kurogane said.

Fai and Syaoran whipped their eyes to the back. Fai tensed. Kurogane was already moving, pulling his door open quietly and scanning the area around them. Nothing lurked to the front, or to the expanse of land on either side of the car. Pain bloomed in his foot when he stepped out; Kurogane swallowed his curse, tread carefully through the strewn cacti on the ground. Fai slipped out behind him, shoulders tense. "Kuro-sama," he murmured.

"Get the princess. I'll take that on." And he was moving, sword drawn swiftly from its sheath.

Kurogane reached the back of the car. For a long second, everything was still. Then the freshly-carved ground exploded just three feet in front of Sakura, scattering dirt everywhere as a giant, scaly worm reared up, its mouth a great, yawning maw, edged with rows upon rows of teeth. Sakura gasped; Kurogane grabbed her arm and dragged her behind himself, where Fai was.

He unleashed one of his sweeping attacks, a wide-angled one that blew outwards, slashing into the creature. This wasn't human; he could kill as he wished. Kurogane grinned, watched as the towering worm was cleaved right in two, murky green blood splashing onto dry dirt.

Its head landed on the desert brush with a resounding thump. Kurogane watched as it writhed, life energy still pounding within. Its wounds began to knit together. The top half of the creature stretched in a ghastly imitation of a balloon, and its flesh bubbled and darkened, reshaping into a thinner body and tail. The same happened with the other half of its body; wet, gleaming flesh shuddered and morphed into another head, still eyeless, with only a mouth wide enough to swallow Kurogane whole.

He swore beneath his breath, heard Syaoran mutter an exclamation on the other side of the car. "Get back in the car, kid!" he yelled.

He'd seen nothing like this in all their travels, didn't suppose things could recover that quickly. There had been rumors about regenerating octopuses and starfish, but nothing like this, that healed itself in mere seconds. He hadn't even sensed it showing up until it was almost too late.

"But I should help—"

"Sakura-chan," Fai said somewhere behind Kurogane, car door ajar at his side. Kurogane assumed the princess was safe. "You need to get back out. _Now._ "

There was such a strange inflection to the last word that Kurogane was instantly on the alert.

And there, beneath the ground, he sensed something else tunneling towards them at great speed. It would end up surfacing beneath the car. In about ten seconds. "Mage," he yelled, tearing his gaze off the gory, regenerating worm. "Get them out of here!"

Fai turned towards him, still standing by the back door, his face ashen. "I—"

"Just fucking do it!"

He saw, in that moment, Fai making a decision. It closed off his expression, and his eyes were brilliantly blue. "The princess, at least," he murmured, raised a hand that was already flying, scribbling glowing violet runes in midair. His other hand slammed the door shut. "Syaoran-kun, get in the car."

Fai's tone held no space for rebuttal. Kurogane watched as the boy's eyes grew wide, watched as he jumped into the car, pulled the door shut behind him.

The wizard's spell looped around the car in the next breath, snapped tight, yanked it up into the sky at the same time the ground exploded next to them, a bigger worm thrusting up like a fountain, snapping jaws barely scraping the dull, smooth underbelly of the car.

Kurogane sprang forward, slashed at the worm with his sword. He felt the give of its thick flesh as he cleaved it in two. More murky green splashed out; he leaped backward on instinct to avoid contact, landing in a mess of hard, scratchy branches. Fai did the same a few feet away. The decapitated head landed heavily on the dirt road. Above them, the car floated, safely out of harm's way.

"Don't let them down," Kurogane said, returned his attention to the two healed worms from before—except there was only one. The other had gone missing.

It was underground, tunneling towards him.

He swore again, loosed a hurricane around him to clear the cacti and prickly brush. It would spare him the need to check the ground—the spiked plants were an enemy in themselves. Fai's response was lost to the noise of the gusting winds. Past the whirling dust of the hurricane, the wizard had hopped down the open road on one side of the fallen, regenerating worm, but Kurogane's attention was no longer on him. The ground exploded a few feet away.

This time, the worm emerged at an angle, gaping mouth aimed right for Kurogane's head.

He slashed it into multiple parts, big, ugly chunks that fell onto the ground around him, oozing green blood and quivering in all their individual bleeding pieces. They were still alive. He could sense them, could see as the little bits began to bubble and stretch themselves into new worms, sand-colored scales on the outside and tapering tails on one end, little mouths on the other. This was wrong, repugnant. He tasted bile in his throat.

"Don't these things die?" he shouted, took a flying leap to the outer edge of his circle, closer to Fai.

The wizard looked back at him, lips pressed thin. "I've never seen this before," he said. "You're just creating more enemies we have to fight against, Kuro-pon."

"Then tell me how to kill them!" Was this what Tomoyo meant by not killing? How the fuck was he supposed to annihilate them? With _love?_

"I suppose they could be frozen." Fai turned away, facing down the other regenerated worm. Kurogane frowned, had a moment to wonder why Fai didn't have a weapon of his own if he was so opposed to using magic. There were only half of the little worms left on the ichor-stained ground when he next looked that way. The other half had left little holes in the dirt. "Why don't you try that?"

"I don't have an ice attack!" he roared. Three wormlets burrowed their way out of the ground, flying at his calves. He swore, leaped back, twisted in midair when another flew at him from the side. "You know that! Damn it!"

Pain burst in his uninjured heel when he landed. For a moment, he was sick with dread, that he'd let a damn worm sink its teeth into him. (Could it somehow live in his body?) But it was only a ball of prickly cactus, he realized, kicking out at one of the worms with the spiked ball. It didn't go as well as he'd imagined—it wrapped its mouth around the cactus, chewed through it.

He slammed his foot into the ground, grit his teeth at the pain that lanced through his foot, and the worm shuddered, its head a dark green smear on the dirt. He kicked the cactus off his shoe, ignored the next piercing stab of pain. "Smashing them works, it looks like."

Except the worm began to bubble again, and the rest of its clones were in the barren ground around Kurogane, burrowing up towards him. He swore, leaped over the flying worms. One shot up quicker than he could withdraw; Kurogane grimaced when its teeth scraped through the leg of his pants, that he wore beneath his robes. The robes themselves were thick and hindered movement, and he wished that he was back in simpler clothes. As soon as he thought that, he was shrugging the thick, white robe off, tossing it onto one of the nearby plants for safekeeping.

"What're you doing?" Fai yelled.

Kurogane spared the wizard a glance. Fai was dancing between three half-sized worms now, the remnants of Kurogane's earlier attacks, and the kids were still in the car, faces poking out of the open windows in grim horror. "The fuck are you doing?" he hollered back.

"I'm afraid I don't have much of an option here." Fai's robes flapped in the wind as he wove between the relentless worms trying to charge him down. "I'm not giving myself more work, unlike you!"

"At least I'm trying to kill them!" The worms were coming at him again, and Kurogane could sense more rapidly approaching below ground, larger ones that were stronger and faster than these midgets still haunting him. He growled, thought about unleashing a lightning attack on the worms. "Why don't you try freezing them, idiot?"

"I'm getting along just fine here—"

Two other worms erupted from the ground between him and Fai, showering dirt and cactus upon them. Kurogane swore. Balls of spines landed on his head and arms, some catching on his skin. He was tiring of these creatures, things he couldn't kill with simple moves. On impulse, he let loose one of his lightning dragons, directing the crackling energy so it arced through the two new worms, sizzling them into burnt crisps. With energy remaining in the attack, he sent the dragon into the ground he'd cleared around himself, where the tiny worms were still burrowing and trying to leap at him.

They went out with a sizzle, sparking and catching fire and charring. He should have done this from the start.

It was only when the burning carcasses thudded onto the ground that he heard Syaoran shouting from somewhere high in the air. "They're flammable," he said, hands around his mouth. "Cacti burn!"

(Maybe he'd been depending on the wizard to put the fire out.)

The blaze began with flying sparks from the carcasses that landed on the dry shrubs in front of him. Cloudy yellow flames flickered to life on crooked, thin branches. The fire gained momentum, spreading from bush to bush, burgeoning into a sea of fire separating him from Fai. Past that, the wizard was still dodging the trio of worms, cheeks flushed, eyes bright, limbs flowing with sheer grace. He was beautiful. And he was safe.

Something sunk its teeth into the back of his calf. Kurogane cursed, twisted around to look at the little worm that his lightning attack had missed. It was disgusting, sharp teeth chewing into his leg, and he kicked at it, crushed it into the ground and stomped on it so all that remained was a bubbling, gooey mess, a broken mouth and scaly skin. His muscles throbbed, trickling sticky blood.

There were even more worms coming beneath the ground. He was starting to suspect that they were drawn by the scent of blood.

"Kuro-tan!" Fai called. His voice was a little fuzzy. Kurogane grabbed his cloak before the rest of the bushes around him caught fire, unleashed another gusting wind attack to the side, where the shrubs were half a minute away from being set ablaze. His feet throbbed as he jogged a detour back to the idiot. His skin prickled with the first signs of sunburn. "There are more coming— What happened to you?"

"You think?" he snapped.

His feet weren't working as well the closer he got to the road. Fai was still engaged in his dance with the other worms, and as he turned to watch the wizard, Kurogane tripped, reached out to steady himself. He fell, instead, into a mass of needles that pierced his midriff and chest, and very nearly his face. Spines scratched thin lines of heat across his cheek. Through the pain blooming in his body, Kurogane heard Fai's exclamation of shock.

There was a chilly breeze suddenly, ice-cold, and Kurogane sighed as it cooled the burning air around him. He struggled to get up, squinted when he saw a flash of gold. Gentle fingers slipped around his shoulders and abdomen, pulling him away from the overgrown cactus. Some of the plant broke off, clung to his skin like baby animals to their mother.

"What're you doing?" he slurred.

"Getting you to safety. You can't protect the children like this," Fai whispered, cradling him flush against his own chest. "Don't struggle."

He wasn't planning to—he lacked the strength—and concentrated on holding on to his bundle of robes while Fai dragged him out of the brush. There was the faintest whiff of cinnamon in the air.

This was enough, Kurogane thought. It had to be.


	2. A Quiet Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow, these chapters take me like 4-5 hours just to proofread. x_x Anyway, I hope you read, enjoy, and leave a comment :P

Kurogane jerked awake to warm hands on his skin.

"Shh. Don't move." It was actually one bony hand on his abdomen holding him down, and another further up, on his chest, light fingertips brushing over his sternum. There was no threat in that touch, only care, and he couldn't sense hostility around, nor any moving, unnatural life forces.

"Where're we?" he muttered thickly. When he cracked his eyes open, Kurogane found Fai bent over him, golden hair falling into his face as he dragged his fingertips to the next patch of skin.

"On some sort of a hill. Syaoran-kun said this is made of rock. The worms can't burrow through here."

He hadn't thought he'd fainted, but he must have, if he didn't remember anything since he fell. It was dark, shadowy, and quiet. Kurogane worked his jaw. His tongue felt thick and heavy, and his head throbbed slightly. So did his feet and whatever part of his chest Fai was prodding at. There was a slight, roiling discomfort working its way through his stomach. "What happened? Where's the kids?"

"So many questions, Kuro-run. Slow down." There was a slight tug on his chest, accompanied by a bit of pain, as if Fai was pulling a hair out. He wasn't, though. Kurogane blinked his vision into focus. There was a little metal dish lying further down on his chest, and a pile of ivory spines in it. Fai's fingers were still moving, seeking out the next spine. "We made it to a hill. I sent Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan to scout around, maybe get us some firewood."

"The fire?" He frowned. His intention hadn't been to set the whole landscape ablaze, but their safety came first, especially when there had been more worms approaching.

"Well, we didn't have time to be concerned about that. There were worms surfacing when we left." Fai shrugged; Kurogane felt it in the shift of his hands. "Sakura-chan wasn't too happy about the burning, but she was more worried about you. It was a bad bite you got on your leg, Kuro-sama."

"Can't be that bad. It was a tiny bastard." He frowned, tried to sit up. Fai shoved him back down into something hard. It was the back seat of the car, Kurogane realized. Fai was crammed into the space where legs would usually go, and Kurogane's legs were sticking out of the open door. The sky was a deep blue out, a shade that wasn't quite like the sky in Nihon, but similar.

"It was bad enough that we had to give you some antidote," Fai said dryly. "It's a good thing that we bought some before we left. Even then, we had to act quickly. The poison took you out in no time at all."

Kurogane grunted. "How'd you get us here?"

Fai pressed his lips together, kept his eyes on his probing fingers. He picked at a spine and tugged it out after a couple of unsuccessful attempts. "It's not nice of you to get hurt like that, you know, forcing me to treat your wounds."

"Tch. No one's forcing you to do anything, idiot." He watched as Fai set the spine on the growing pile, moved his fingertips in slow circles to seek more out. "I can treat myself."

"So you say as you lie unconscious and writhing," the wizard answered. "You were in pretty bad shape. Feverish. The children were worried."

Maybe there was an _I was worried_ hidden in there somewhere, but Kurogane thought it might be too much to hope for.

"I'm fine now." The fact that Fai refused to answer his question meant that magic had been involved. Kurogane remembered an icy breeze in spite of the fire, shortly before he blacked out. "Ice worked?"

"Hmm?" Fai glanced up at him then, blue eyes luminous in the dimness of the car. There was a softness about his demeanor that made Kurogane want to reach up, to see if this was some sort of poison-induced hallucination. Fai was never this gentle towards him. He swallowed, curled his fingers into his palms. Before Yama, he was certain that this would never have happened. Sakura would have been here with them, or Syaoran, and Fai would be waking him up with jokes and stupid crap.

Now, though... He remembered Fai weaving between the towering sand worms, remembered the red of his lips and the different smiles he had. Fai, crouched over him and touching him gently, pulling spines that really posed no threat to his life. The idiot could deny this all he wanted, and Kurogane would still want to kiss him anyway. He swallowed, breathed in deep. No cinnamon scent now. "What did the kids do?"

The grin on the wizard's mouth grew wide and fond. He brightened, glanced out of the door. (Kurogane just wanted to haul him down close, damn it.) "We got you to this rock, and Syaoran-kun administered the antidote on the way here. I had Sakura-chan pick out the spines in your cloak. You threw it onto a cactus, Kuro-rin. How could you? There were so many that I had to get Syaoran-kun to help. Don't go throwing your clothes everywhere unless you want spines in your butt, Kuro-wan!"

Kurogane raised an eyebrow at him. "You'd want to pick those out, huh?"

Fai froze. His cheeks darkened, and Kurogane couldn't help smirking. There was something between them, no matter how hard he tried to deny it. Fai was flustered. It was a very endearing reaction (had Fai ever blushed before?) and Kurogane wished this moment would drag on a little longer.

"Kuro-puu is a pervert," Fai muttered, looking back down at Kurogane's chest. He swept his fingers in larger arcs.

Kurogane figured that keeping the wizard's thoughts on the kids was the way to go, when Fai was here and close and his guard was down. There was worry in the lines on his forehead, but Kurogane couldn't do anything about that. Fai probably had not the time to erase his magic. "You were talking about the kids. They hurt?"

The idiot cheered up. He beamed at Kurogane, and Kurogane wondered if this was the key to Fai's heart. The wizard seemed to have forgiven him for eavesdropping in Yama—was this a permanent thing, or did it last only as long as Kurogane was injured?

"Kuro-daddy cares for the children," Fai crowed, his face suffused with genuine delight. Kurogane glared at him. He still didn't approve of the stupid nickname. "Neither of them were hurt. They were more concerned about you. Mokona too."

"I don't care," he said.

"But you do." Fai was glowing, happy, and that didn't fade when the children's voices drifted closer. Their lantern bobbed into view next; Syaoran was carrying stacks of firewood under his arms, while the princess hugged a smaller bundle to herself, lantern handle clutched between her hands. "Look, they're back! Sakura-chan! Syaoran-kun! Kuro-daddy's awake!"

They hurried over, faces a mix of relief and joy. Kurogane didn't begrudge them their appearance. If anything, Fai brightened even more when they came closer, and Kurogane had to wonder at him, how he'd gone from trying to keep the kids at arm's length to falling in love with them, without even seeming to realize it himself. If Fai wasn't going to acknowledge it, then Kurogane wasn't going to point it out, either. He didn't need the idiot trying to hide and pretend when there was no reason to.

"How are you feeling?" they chorused. Sakura held the lantern up—it had been dim in the car before—and Kurogane squinted under its yellow flicker.

"Fine," he said. (His stomach felt strange, though, a little bloated, like he'd eaten something wrong.) He tried sitting up again. Fai yelped, snatched the dish of spines off his skin before it could spill. "What was in that antidote."

"Is it working?" Syaoran asked with a frown. He turned away to set his firewood down, taking the lantern from Sakura when his hands were no longer occupied.

Kurogane shrugged. His shoulders itched with sunburn, and the inside of the car seemed cramped, tight, like there wasn't space to breathe. He heaved himself out and onto his feet, grimaced at the pain jabbing through his soles. He flicked a look at Fai. "You haven't removed the ones in my feet yet?"

Fai huffed indignantly. "I thought those in your chest should go first, seeing as how they're so close to your heart, Kuro-myu."

He frowned. "The antidote's messing with my stomach. What was in it?"

Syaoran paled, glancing at Kurogane's midriff as if he could discern its contents just by staring. "There was goat's milk in it."

Kurogane swore. For all that the night air helped momentarily, the thought of milk in his stomach was enough to make his discomfort worsen.

"There wasn't really another choice," Fai said uneasily. "It was the lesser of two evils—I'm sure you'll agree."

He headed off to a clump of scraggly shrubs to empty his stomach, feet throbbing the whole way. When his stomach calmed and he'd spat the foul taste from his mouth, Kurogane headed back to the car, accepted a bottle from Sakura with a mutter of thanks. She peered at him in concern.

"Anyway, now that you're awake, you'll be able to pull the rest of the spines yourself, Kuro-pon," Fai said. He was at the back of the car now, fiddling with the packages of supplies there. "We've all had dinner. There are dry rations here if you're hungry."

"Not yet." Kurogane waved the kids away. "I'm fine. An upset stomach's not going to kill me."

"Kuro-daddy is very strong." There wasn't any malice in Fai's words, and he was glancing at Kurogane sideways, through his lashes, a half-smile on his lips.

"You're not going to stop with that 'daddy' crap, are you," he said flatly.

Fai filled a bottle with water from a plastic drum. "The children look up to you."

He snorted. "They look up to you too." The wizard blinked up at him in surprise. Kurogane shrugged, looked away across the flat rock outcrop they'd somehow found themselves on. Below, past the edge of the clearing, the desert was a sea of black. Had the fire burned it all? "What did you do to get us here? If you don't answer, I'm going to ask the kid."

The wizard tensed, and the light in his eyes dimmed. "I got us onto this hill. Syaoran-kun was the one to suggest we come here. The thing is, Mokona says the feather is still pretty far away."

"Do you have the spells?" Kurogane saw the boy and his princess glance over; he wasn't sure if they'd heard, but it wasn't like Fai could hide this secret forever, either. Fai shook his head, gaze downcast.

"Not all of us have the time to lie around and do the things we need to do, Kuro-pyon. Besides, it's not like that's important—"

"You can't lie about that, not to me." He felt a surge of satisfaction when the wizard fell silent. Fai watched him, pupils dilated in the dimness, and Kurogane flicked his gaze at Mokona. "You can get them to help with the spells. Much quicker that way."

Blue eyes grew wide, and narrowed just as quickly. "You're out of your mind," Fai muttered.

"Just showing you the quickest way to solve your problems. You make them difficult for yourself."

"There are some things best kept private." Fai had finished filling all the bottles. He grouped them to the side, shoving the water drum back into the car. "Not all of us can be as open as you are."

"Let me help, at least."

The wizard paused for a heartbeat, then straightened, brushing dust off his robes. (It looked similar to his fur-lined cloak. Kurogane was reminded, all over again, that their original clothes had been lost about three worlds ago.) "It's very easy to make mistakes with that kind of thing, Kuro-Kuro. It's not some children's drawing game."

He frowned. "I didn't say it was one."

Fai pursed his lips. Worry had carved lines around his mouth, and Kurogane saw the uncertainty in his eyes, the way he stood tense and ill at ease.

"How many do you need this time?"

"Does it matter?" Fai looked away, towards the children, wrapped his arms around himself as if he found the night air chilly. Kurogane knew that the wizard had been in far icier weather, and that what he really wanted was somewhere he could hide. Like all the other times.

"Just shut up and let me help, damn it." He thought about reaching for Fai, to shake him to his senses, but Fai seemed more likely to bolt whenever he touched him. "The sooner we get the birds out, the sooner you'll relax, right?"

Fai's gaze skittered away, and Kurogane knew he was right.

"Oi, pork bun," he said. Fai snuffled next to him, unfolded himself to catch Mokona as she bounced up to them.

"Do you have any drawing paper, Mokona?" Fai asked lightly, thin smile stretched brittle across his face. "And a pen?"

The creature smiled up at him from his cupped palms. "Is Fai going to draw? Mokona read Fai's comic book, but Mokona didn't understand any of it!"

Fai's forehead crinkled; he blinked several times. "Aren't you talking about Kuro-rin's comics?"

Mokona shook her head. "No, it's this one, the one Fai and Kurogane bought from Shougo."

She inhaled and puffed up, full to bursting, and when she opened her mouth, a little book smacked into Fai's hand. Fai looked strangely at it. He glanced at Kurogane, and Kurogane suddenly realized what it was that the pork bun had given Fai.

"Don't," he blurted.

It was the wrong thing to say, apparently, because Fai lifted an eyebrow, smiled wryly, and flipped it open the moment Mokona hopped onto his shoulder. Kurogane swore, snatched at the book. Fai tugged it just beyond his reach. "I remember now," he said lowly, a note of humor in his tone. "It's that book from Shougo-san's shop."

Kurogane remembered piles of lacy underthings strewn everywhere, glass dicks and handcuffs and _feathers_ in that shop. "Oh, hell no," he breathed. Not right now, when he wasn't even feeling up to chasing Fai for no good reason.

"Oh, yes," Fai sang, turned his back to Kurogane, using the wan moonlight to help illuminate the pages. Kurogane rubbed his temples and sighed. He wasn't even interested in that book, for heaven's sake! That damn fucker had shoved it into the pile and made them pay for it. All Kurogane did was flip briefly through it. "It looks like a school." Pages flipped noisily in the otherwise-silent desert, with the children talking quietly in the background. Fai laughed, more a sound of surprise than amusement. "Oh."

"Does Fai understand it?" Mokona asked from her perch, lop ears lifting in interest.

"Well." The wizard's voice was low and considering, like he was debating whether to tease Kurogane with the book. Kurogane was proven right, when Fai peeked at him over his shoulder. "It's about naughty people doing naughty things. But this is Kuro-pon's book. He might explain it better to you."

"No way," he snapped. Fai lobbed the book over at him, and Kurogane caught it on instinct. He wasn't going to look at it, but it was far safer in his possession, than in Fai's or Mokona's or the kids'. The cover was familiar, now that he was looking at it again. "It's just stupid crap about some teachers."

Fai's eyebrows crawled further up his forehead. "Kuro-rin understands it, then? Does he like that sort of thing?"

Heat swamped his cheeks. Kurogane spluttered. "No! That damn shop assistant included that in the pile, you idiot!"

(But he did, he liked that sort of thing where _Fai_ was concerned.)

"Let's use it for tinder, then." Fai met his eyes, the corner of his lips quirking. Another challenge.

"Hell no. You don't burn books." Kurogane glared, shoved the comic into his back pocket. "You have firewood."

"But what's the story about?" Mokona cried, looking between them.

"Kuro-pon will read it and tell you what it's about, Mokona." Fai smirked. "Won't you, Kuro-rinta? You'll tell Mokona every little juicy detail?"

He watched as Mokona looked hopefully at him, paws clasped together. "Will Kuro-pon read it to Mokona? Syaoran turned red and said he couldn't understand it. Which was funny because Syaoran knows how to read a lot of languages."

They looked toward the kids. Syaoran had started a small fire a couple yards in front of the car, and he and Sakura were both looking resolutely away from them.

"So Mokona asked Sakura. Sakura turned red too." Mokona sagged on Fai's shoulder, her face a picture of abject disappointment.

Fai's expression was pinched, and Kurogane would have felt triumphant if not for the horror that swam in his gut. "You gave it to the kids?" he blurted. Mokona nodded. Fai looked helplessly between them, equally appalled. "Damn it."

"Well, they have to learn at some point," Fai said brightly.

They didn't have to learn how two _guys_ had sex. They didn't— Did they think Kurogane had bought this because of _Fai_? Knowing how people had sex was one thing, but knowing how your parents, or your travel companions did that kind of thing was a whole other story. If Sakura and Syaoran had sex, well, that wasn't any of Kurogane's damn business.

"Save it," Kurogane snapped. "What's done is done."

"So will Kuro-tan read it to Mokona?" The creature sat miserably on Fai's shoulder, and Kurogane felt as if everyone's attention had been anchored onto him.

"No," he said, because he wasn't going to.

"Kuro-chin is the only one who can read it," Fai added helpfully, sidling up to Kurogane. He patted the book through Kurogane's pants; every thump carried over into his ass. "He's old enough to explain what exactly goes on in the story."

"Stop that." Kurogane glared, and Fai smiled smugly up at him. He wanted to wipe that grin off the idiot's face. "Why don't you read it. You seem to understand it well enough."

"Ah. But Kuro-tan understands every word," the wizard countered. "And words are very important in scenes like that."

He gave Kurogane a _look_. Kurogane didn't know what the hell that was supposed to mean. "Why don't I read it to you, and you tell the pork bun what it means."

Fai stared at him. "Kuro-pon is insinuating," he said slowly, "that he wants us to read the book together? With Mokona?"

It was the strangest, most disturbing idea he'd ever heard.

Mokona cheered up. "Fai-mommy and Kuro-daddy will read it to Mokona?"

They stared at her, Fai consideringly, and Kurogane with no small amount of disbelief. "No," they said at the same time, looking at each other. There were some things that simply could not be done.

"But Kuro-rin can still read it to you," Fai added. Kurogane glared at him.

"No."

"Kuro-puu said he would!" Mokona deflated (though she never looked like anything less than a blob). Kurogane wanted to toss her off the rock outcrop. The wizard, too.

"And daddies aren't supposed to lie to children," Fai said pointedly. Kurogane snorted.

"Whatever," he said. "Maybe when the kid is old enough, he'll read it to you."

Fai stared at him in horror. Kurogane rolled his eyes.

"The pen and paper. Or have you forgotten?" Fai flinched at those words; he was rewarded with a little whisper of victory in his chest.

The idiot turned away from him then, looking straight at Mokona. "May I have my notebook back, Mokona? And a pen?"

Mokona obliged. She produced a worn notebook and two pens, Kurogane was gratified to note. Fai shoved them all into his robes.

"But Kuro-rin will definitely read that to you," Fai said resolutely, slanting his gaze at Kurogane. _Payback._

He snorted. This was turning into some sort of a game between them. He caught the faint upward tilt of Fai's lips. "Find someone else to read it," he told Mokona.

Kurogane stayed where he was while Fai wandered off to a side of the clearing, probably to get some spells drawn in the time they had here. He shrugged, headed over to the crackling campfire where the kids sat next to each other, sharing some fruit. They looked up as he approached, tentative smiles on their faces.

"You guys okay?" He folded himself onto the ground beside the princess, took the slice of pale, wet fruit that she held out to him.

Both children nodded. "Fai-san kept us safe in the car," Syaoran explained. "The worms couldn't reach us at that height."

"Huh." Even with giant blood-hunting worms targeting them, the idiot had the sense to keep them safe. Fai was a powerful wizard, though, and Kurogane was certain that they had not seen half of what he could do. (He rather wished he knew, but this was fine, what he understood of the wizard's abilities now.) "How did he get me out of there?"

"He didn't tell you?" Sakura asked, surprise stark in her eyes as she leaned forward. (And this shouldn't sting, but it did.) Kurogane shook his head. "Before he rescued you, Fai-san froze some of the worms. Then he ran to you and pulled you off the cactus, and jumped onto the worms he froze. I didn't know he could jump that high."

Fai had leaped onto lampposts back in Outo, but Kurogane knew that to be an altered reality. He hadn't seen Fai doing anything of that sort elsewhere. (There was Hanshin, too, where he flew with the help of his kudan.) "After the worms?"

"He brought the car down," Syaoran continued. "He was struggling with carrying you, but he brought the car down to where he was on the worms. We opened the doors and pulled you in."

"And the idiot?"

"Fai-san climbed in after we got a hold of you," Sakura chimed in, her eyes dark with the memory. She offered him another slice of fruit, but Kurogane still had yet to eat the previous piece. "It was lucky that he did, because the fire was melting the ice on the worms. He nearly got his foot bitten off."

Kurogane suspected that a missing foot would be the least of the wizard's concerns. All the same, it was a good thing that they were all safe. He hadn't expected himself to fall prey to a poisonous bite, much less one while he'd been distracted looking at _Fai_. It was an embarrassing admission, even to himself.

"When we were all in the car, Fai-san brought us away from the valley," Syaoran said. He was looking into the fire, right eye glimmering blankly. Kurogane remembered his sword training—this would be a good place to practice while they had the time. (The kid was still woefully lacking in his response speed, though at least he hadn't gone an entire six months without picking up his sword.) "He said we should move towards where the feather was, but you were shaking really badly."

Sakura nodded. She looked pointedly at Kurogane until he popped his fruit portion into his mouth, before giving him another slice. "We suspected that you'd been poisoned. Fai-san was busy moving us to a safer spot, so I helped to hold you down while Syaoran-kun gave you a dose of the antidote." A grimace later, "we're sorry that it had to be goat's milk, Kurogane-san, we wouldn't have done it if you didn't look so pale. Fai-san kept looking over his shoulder at you."

"Doesn't matter." His stomach was still queasy, but there was nothing they could do about it at this point. Kurogane looked closely at the girl, found a dark spot on her cheek and one on her arm. Syaoran had bruises, too—next to his mouth, on his throat, and his arms. He drew a slow breath. "I gave you those bruises while I was jerking around."

They avoided his eyes and nodded. He cursed lowly.

"It isn't really your fault," Sakura hurried to explain, cradling her fruit slices. Juice was dripping stickily between her fingers—a waste, since they needed all the moisture they could get in this place. "You weren't conscious. Don't feel bad about it, Kurogane-san."

But he did, because he'd beat up innocent children and they couldn't possibly have had the strength to prevent that. He hadn't thought he'd need some way to restrain himself for the sake of the kids. There had always been the probability that Fai would be around to help—except he had been caught up with other things this time. "Sorry. Should've let the wizard do that instead. At least he deserves a black eye."

"Fai-san felt bad about it too," Syaoran said quietly, glancing towards where the blond had disappeared to. "He wanted to help, but he was in the driver's seat and we were almost done with the antidote, anyway."

(The idiot couldn't stop caring, could he?)

"Kind of done," Sakura added with a tiny smile. "You were saying things, and we couldn't get the antidote to go down until you'd stopped."

He almost didn't want to know. "What was I saying?"

The boy frowned at that. "It was a jumble of words. Some commands. I think you mentioned 'idiot' a time or two. It sounded like you were giving orders to someone."

Kurogane breathed a laugh. Blurting things from Yama was better than all the grievances about Fai and Tomoyo he didn't want to air. "'Idiot', huh? Figures."

"Fai-san said you were dreaming about him," Sakura murmured hesitantly. She added another slice of fruit to the one in his hand, and gave one to Syaoran. "But we weren't sure if he really meant it."

Syaoran nodded along. "'Hyuu, Kuro-rin dreams about me,'" he said in an awful imitation of Fai's lilt, glancing at Kurogane as if he expected to be socked around the ear. Kurogane scoffed. "But he was floating us to this hill at the same time."

"Spouting crap like he always does." Kurogane glanced down at the uneven stone surface they were all sitting on, and at the pile of firewood they'd scavenged from somewhere while he was unconscious. "You're sure this is solid rock?"

Syaoran nodded. "You can't really see it from here, but when we were floating over, I noticed that these are actually rock formations. You can tell by looking at their sides—when there's a slope of broken material accumulating next to rocks, that's a sign of weathering. Water collects and freezes in the cracks along the exposed surfaces. Over time, the expansion of ice causes the rock structure to weaken."

"Huh. Good to know." He thought about the kid's lecture for longer, then brought himself up short. "Wait. You said the water freezes here?"

"Deserts get really cold at night." Syaoran frowned and looked around, shrugging. "We don't know how low the temperatures go this time of year though. The locals weren't very helpful with that. They said the weather's been odd lately."

"Then you should head inside," Kurogane said. "Share a blanket or something."

Both kids stared wide-eyed at him, pink creeping into their cheeks.

Kurogane sighed and rubbed his temples. "I meant you should share heat. Unless the car has one of those heaters. There isn't space for all of us in there."

"But where are you and Fai-san going to sleep?" Sakura asked in concern.

Kurogane shoved the pieces of fruit into his mouth, wiped his hand on his pants. He still had those damn spines from his feet, and who knew how many there were left in his torso? "Don't know. We'll figure it out. You two go ahead and get some sleep while you can. I can't tell how late it is."

He frowned up at the sky, scanning the constellations for something he found familiar. There was none, and Kurogane wasn't surprised. It was just another reminder that he wasn't home in Nihon. This time, however, there were other people he cared about around him, and this really wasn't too bad at all, he realized. Everyone was safe, even Fai, who was probably crouched somewhere scribbling away.

He was about to call the pork bun over from wherever she was (because he still needed to talk to that witch, damn it), when Syaoran broke his train of thought.

"Um, Kurogane-san?" He glanced up at the kid, nodded for him to go on. "About that, um, that maganyan that Mokona-chan showed us—"

Kurogane froze. "What about it?"

"I— I mean, Sakura-hime and I thought it was your way of trying to tell us something," Syaoran stammered. "We thought, um, maybe you and Fai-san—"

"What the hell," he snapped. The kids, too? This was not happening. It really wasn't. His cheeks were hot.

"Sakura-hime and I won't think any worse of you. We— We know it can be a stigma in some cultures and we just wanted you to know that we don't disrespect either of you." Syaoran was red in the face, and to the side, the princess was nodding fervently. "We can tell that, um, that you like each other a lot, and that is okay, but we really don't need to know thingslikethataboutyouguys."

"The fuck," he spluttered. "Why the hell would you think that—"

Syaoran looked terrified. Sakura stood rooted to the spot, as if she couldn't decide whether the boy needed to be saved. "We— we didn't mean to be rude. Um. In our culture, physical intimacy is a very private thing—"

"I'm not talking about goddamn sex, damn it!" he roared.

It was suddenly very, very quiet in the desert. Syaoran looked like he was about to faint. Sakura had pressed her hands to her cheeks. Kurogane didn't want to know what the hell Fai thought of that.

"Forget it," he muttered. "Go to sleep."

"I'm very sorry!" Syaoran said, flustered. "The princess and I respect both you and Fai-san a lot! This doesn't change what we think of you!"

"Go to sleep," Kurogane said, loudly. The boy tensed up in front of him. "Apology accepted. Now go get some fucking rest."

He'd said the last few words clear and slow, and Syaoran stumbled away with a mumbled goodnight, almost falling head-first through the open car door. Sakura bowed down low and scrambled in behind him, shutting the door with a resounding bang. Mokona bounced in through the window after them.

It was a long few minutes before the heat in his cheeks dissipated. Kurogane rubbed his face, groaned into his hand. Not only did the kids know, but he'd yelled so loud that it probably reached Fai, and he wasn't sure how much the idiot had heard. Was Fai going to put a stop to everything, or was he going to tease Kurogane mercilessly now? He wasn't even sure he could look the wizard in the face again.

"You're some ninja, Kuro-pon," Fai said some time later, settling down beside him. "I was certain that ninja didn't make loud, rude comments about sex to innocent children."

Kurogane looked up from the bare sole of his foot, glowering at the idiot. Fai looked staunchly at his notebook. "It's not my damn fault that the pork bun gave them indecent things to read."

Blue eyes slid over to him. "Such a bad daddy, Kuro-wan. Be responsible for your actions."

"You didn't want to throw any of those things away," he retorted. "So it's not like you aren't at fault too."

Fai's mouth shut with a click; he looked away, curling his fingers into the thick robe at his calves. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said smoothly.

"Suit yourself." Kurogane shrugged and looked back at his foot, rubbing a thumb over thick skin until he found another spine. Forcing Fai to admit that they'd had sex didn't solve anything. "In any case, they know we fuck. Not sure how you're going to hide from that."

Fai opened and closed his mouth, blinking several times. He didn't say anything, however, and Kurogane was content to wait while he pinched the stubby ends of spines out with too-short fingernails, campfire shadows dancing across the folds of his feet. The spines incinerated when he flicked them into the flames, sending puffs of dark smoke into the sky. "It could just be a big misunderstanding."

"Then explain it to them yourself." Kurogane raised an eyebrow, challenging.

Fai frowned at him. "That's not fair of you, Kuro-tan. First you get poisoned and faint and I had to rescue you—"

"You could've left me to die."

Fai paused, his next words half-formed on his lips, and blinked again. He pouted. "You know I can't do that," he said. "The children will be very upset if you're gone."

"And why do you even care if they're upset?" Kurogane let the question sink in, watching Fai from the corner of his eye while he picked at his foot.

The wizard struggled. He was having trouble acknowledging his attachment to the kids, and Kurogane knew that. If he couldn't admit that he loved the kids, what more Kurogane? Kurogane didn't know what Fai felt towards him, but from the way the children talked, it sounded almost as if... Fai cared about him.

He didn't know what to think about that, when Fai kept running, but it made his heart beat a little quicker. There was some form of reciprocation here, that Fai didn't know about or didn't want to admit, but it was real, and it was a steady improvement from what happened in Yama. It made him want to do more, give Fai whatever he had (because he didn't do things by halves, and Fai didn't deserve that, either).

"Well, I'm sorry that you're such a grouch all the time," Fai retorted blithely, "but I'd rather us travel as one big, happy family."

Kurogane rolled his eyes. "So if we're a family, then we can help with those spells of yours."

Fai's smile evaporated. "For how sharp you are, Kuro-mii, one would think you'd learn to stop talking about that by now."

"I'm not like you."

"Which is why—"

"Which is why I think two people working on those things is better than one. Do you want him to follow you here?"

Fai's intake of breath was loud and sharp. Kurogane could see the way dread crept into his eyes, the way fear tightened the lines around his face. He let the silence between them stretch, so Fai could remember just how badly he wanted his magic gone from here. Fai curled into himself, hugged his knees closer.

Kurogane shifted closer to him, set a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. The wizard leaned in by a fraction, but it was telling enough. "If I help, it'll get done faster," he said quietly. "No Ashura."

"No Ashura," the other whispered, his gaze lost in the fire.

"The one in Shura was different, wasn't he?" Kurogane asked.

Fai swallowed noisily. "Yeah."

He shifted his hand, so he was cupping Fai lightly around the back of his neck. Fai pressed into his touch, closed his eyes.

"You shouldn't," he whispered. "You should remember all the things you hate about me."

"Yeah, well. I need drawing practice."

It was enough to tease a wry smile from Fai. "Drawing practice, huh?" he mumbled. "It took me a while to even identify your fish."

Another reminder of Yama. It was a barb, unimportant enough that Kurogane shrugged it off easily. "So you agree that I need practice."

"Perhaps." Fai breathed in deep, held it, and exhaled shakily. "Just drawing practice. I think I could deal with that."

"What do I do first?"

The wizard uncurled from himself slowly, pulled his notebook out. He looked contemplative, a little uncertain, but he tore a page off and scribbled a few things on it. "Practice drawing these first. The angles and proportions of the runes have to be exactly the same."

It didn't look like much on the blue-lined paper, those angular squiggles, but Kurogane took the pen and paper that Fai held out, looked for a flat surface so he wouldn't be putting holes through the paper. There wasn't much for writing on—the rocks were jagged, and the ground was highly uneven. He could write on the surface of the car, though he'd much rather stay by Fai's side... and Fai wouldn't hand his notebook over so Kurogane had a backing to practice on.

He remembered the other book suddenly, the one he'd shoved into his pocket when he'd argued with the idiot earlier.

Fai cracked a smile when he pulled it out. "Rather read? I don't blame you."

"Need something to write on." He felt a little gratified when gold eyebrows lifted in surprise. Fai was throwing him off at the deep end where this was concerned—a single piece of paper, no flat surfaces, no pointers. And through all this, the wizard surreptitiously watched how he dealt with it. Kurogane set the book on his lap and the paper on top of it, picked a rune out, and tried reproducing it.

Writing on his lap wasn't easy. His hand began to cramp like that; the lines turned out crooked, and he could see why Fai had drawn his knees up, notebook flat across them as he worked quick pen strokes into the paper. So, he did as the wizard did—legs bent, book on his knees, pen held vertically upright, like how he would a brush. Fai glanced over, but made no comment.

This continued for a stretch of several minutes, until Kurogane had got the hang of most of the runes on the page. He drew them somewhat smaller than Fai's examples so there'd be space to practice more, and handed the page over when Fai flipped to a fresh sheet, turning to see how he was doing.

"Ugly, but half of them would work in a spell," the wizard pronounced. His grin was patronizing. He shifted closer, angled the paper towards Kurogane, before writing on it. "This rune here, you'll have to draw the lines closer, like that. This has a larger loop, like that. And this one here, you'll have to draw it sloping higher."

Kurogane frowned. "Looks the same to me."

Fai merely smiled at him, handing the torn sheet back. "Try again."

He clicked his tongue but did not complain. Already, this was far more than he'd expected Fai to share. Kurogane practiced writing the ones Fai had corrected him on, drawing the lines with the new angle and the loops a little larger. For another long period, there came only the sounds of firewood crackling, and the quiet conversation between the children in the car.

"What's the story about?" Fai asked suddenly. He was looking at the book Kurogane was writing on, a flicker of interest in his eyes. "Other than a school and gratuitous sex, I mean."

Kurogane shrugged. "Never read it."

"That's right." Fai pursed his lips. "Are you going to?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You interested?"

"No, no." The wizard laughed lightly, turning away, but it was one of those smiles that Fai pulled when he was trying to hide something. Kurogane snorted, tossed the comic over at him. Fai caught it without looking, glancing towards Kurogane in surprise. "Why are you—"

"You're the one interested in it, not me."

Fai blinked at him. His expression turned shrewd; his tone lowered. "Really, Kuro-pon? You aren't interested?"

And right there was a challenge Kurogane wasn't sure he wanted to refuse. "No," he said. He didn't know why Fai was doing this instead of working on his spells—hadn't he been afraid?

The wizard studied him for a moment longer, before he set his pen down, and tucked his notebook between his thighs and his belly. He flipped the comic open next, starting from the left. A foot away, Kurogane identified the ending credits of the story.

"You've got it wrong. It starts from the other end."

Fai licked his lips, flipped to the beginning. "So it starts with a school," he said. "This woman here really looks like Yuuko-san. 'Good morning, Big Guy-san,' she says. 'You're wearing a very black outfit.' The big guy answers, 'Good morning, Yuuko-san.''"

Kurogane stared. The idiot couldn't possibly be getting the words right. He weighed his practice sheet down with a rock, shuffled closer for a look. "Tch. She's saying, 'Welcome to the school. This is the staff room. You'll find your desk over here.' He answers, 'Thanks. Who are you?'"

"And who is she?"

"Some woman called Hara." Kurogane scanned through the page. "It's the guy's first day at the school. He's the new sports teacher." Fai let him flip the page. "Here, he's getting introduced to the rest of his comrades."

"The guy with the light-colored hair?" The other lead had come up to the main character, a tall man with dark hair and broad shoulders, not unlike Kurogane. "He's wearing a very interesting coat. Like a doctor's."

He was starting to see why that annoying shopkeeper had wanted to add this to their purchases. "He's the 'science' teacher. Mixes liquids in a glass jar. Says he likes making things explode."

Fai bit his lip. "He teaches potions?"

Kurogane shrugged. "Hell if I know."

The science teacher had begun to flirt blatantly with the sports teacher, and Kurogane didn't want to read the dialogue aloud. Things like _you're very handsome_ and _what strong arms you have_ weren't things he'd say under any circumstances.

So, he glossed over the panels. "The idiot teacher is saying stupid things to the sports teacher."

Fai looked sideways at him, blue eyes bright in the firelight. "Almost sounds familiar, don't you think?"

He looked right back at the wizard. "What do you think?"

"Smart of him."

Kurogane rolled his eyes.

The banter continued through more pages yet, and by the time they reached the end of the chapter, the characters were openly flirting. It didn't take a genius to guess what would happen next. "The sports teacher is inviting him over," he said. "We should probably stop here."

Fai lifted his eyebrows slyly. "Why?"

"Flip through the next few pages. Tell me if you want to continue." Kurogane watched as Fai bent the book in his hand, pages fluttering through the next chapter.

And there, a handful of panels later, the teachers were kissing in the story, hands pushing shirts off in what looked like a very slow sort of foreplay. Fai swallowed. "Um."

"I'm going back to the runes," Kurogane told him. "Kind of pointless reading things like that."

"Oh?" Fai slid his gaze over, and Kurogane returned that look seriously, leaving his expression open and hungry. Fai's breath hitched; he looked away.

"Better to do that kind of stuff than dream of it," he muttered. _With the right person,_ he didn't add aloud. Fai would bolt at that.

"You really are a pervert," the wizard answered just as quietly. He licked his lips, shut the book, got to his feet. "I'll keep watch tonight. Get some rest, Kuro-rin."

"I'll keep watch from here." Fai tossed the comic back; he caught it. "Don't stay up long."

"What a caring father." There was a bit of a smile to those words, however, and Kurogane couldn't help grinning back.

Things were fine again, between Fai and himself. That was good enough. It was better than that, in fact, because the idiot was allowing him closer, whether he was aware of it or not, and Kurogane would take anything Fai offered. This was his life now. Kurogane sighed, returned to practicing his runes. He was mostly a patient man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah you can totally guess who the comic is about. If you hadn't already suspected it in 'when flight falls short'. LOL


	3. A Whole New World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been thinking about writing an incestuous twin relationship and publishing it as original fic. Pff. Anyhow, back to our scheduled horror show.

There was fire, fire everywhere, licking along the sides of the polished wood walkway and eating black-edged holes through wood-and-paper doors. Kurogane ran, his breath puffing hot and nervous through his chest as he shouted for his mother, his father, and everyone he knew to be in the house. No one answered. He pattered through the rooms, searching each one, fire flickering at his heels. It was always almost upon him, potent with the threat of severe burns.

He flung open the door to his mother's prayer room, and there, burning in a pool of blood, was not just his mother, but Fai, the princess, the kid, and his father's arm.

He swore, reached out for them. Fire sprang up between him and all the others, yellow and murky, puffing dark smoke. His lungs burned. They had to be alive. They had to be.

His feet didn't burn as much as they ought when he sprinted across the burning wood. When he reached them, he dropped to his knees, reached for Fai and his mother first. His mother was pale. Fai's eyes were closed, and he was shedding bloody tears. They couldn't be dead.

.

Kurogane jolted awake with a gasp, chest heaving. He fumbled with the fabric pulled across his arms, blinked his eyes into focus.

The desert air was cold against his skin. Above, the sky was a deep blue tinted with yellow, and the stars were bright green. The rock outcrop was silent around them, still, uneven surfaces faintly lit by moonlight. There was no wind blowing. He sensed no threat around himself, just the kids in the car and Fai— Fai, who was pressed next to him, huddled under the very same blanket.

He wanted to reach out. His arm twitched. Fai shifted, turning his face towards Kurogane, and Kurogane saw the glimmer of a blue eye watching him.

 _Breathe in, breathe out._ Kurogane didn't remember when it was that Fai had joined him under the blanket, sleeping upright against one large wheel of the car. It had to have been late; he'd stayed up for some time practicing those runes, then he'd switched to doing his kata. By the time he'd thought about sleeping, Sakura had crept out of the car to hand him some water and blankets for himself and Fai.

The idiot hadn't shown up by that point, so Kurogane had tucked the blankets around himself, left enough hanging that Fai could take that as an invitation. He hadn't sensed Fai squeezing under the blanket... but he'd slept beside the wizard for so long that he'd grown used to his presence, perhaps dangerously so.

"You dream about your parents sometimes," Fai said, his voice rough with sleep. "You must have been close."

His initial instinct was to bristle. Fai didn't know the first thing about his family—but Fai was also reaching out to him. He hadn't thought he sleep-talked. "Yeah, well. Nothing to complain about."

"Kuro-rin doesn't like fire." The wizard was still studying him through the fall of golden hair across his face, pressed snug against Kurogane's side, their limbs separated by thick cloaks. "You get nightmares after large fires."

He shrugged. No use denying it. "What about your parents? They alive?"

Fai looked away, face blank. Kurogane wasn't sure how someone could look like that when they thought about their parents, but the idiot mage was proving, time and again, that he wasn't a regular _someone_. "It's not important."

There was something off about his voice when he said it. Fai wasn't sad or choked up like when he thought about Ashura. His tone was flat. Did that mean... he didn't care? He wasn't disgusted, or fearful, or sad, or _anything_. Kurogane saved the thought for later. He reached out for his bottle, poured a few mouthfuls past chapped lips, then handed it over to Fai.

"Why give me something that isn't wine?" Fai cracked a smile, took it anyway. Kurogane watched the bob of his throat.

"How many more spells do you still need?"

Fai pulled the bottle away and licked his lips. "None of your business, Kuro-tan."

"We're gonna have to go all the way back to drop the birds off, aren't we? If we move from here, we'll have to travel further to get back." Kurogane paused, saw the way Fai's expression closed off. "Do you have enough?"

"This is really my problem, not yours."

He sighed. "If your Ashura tracks you down here and you can't defeat him, he's going to be _my_ problem. What if he hurts the kids?"

"He—" Fai cut himself off, blinked rapidly, looked away. "You don't have to be concerned about that."

"I have no info on him. You're dead wrong if you think I'll assume things go easy."

"Always the fierce ninja—"

"Come on, let's use the spells you've got. We can't drive all the way there. We don't have enough fuel to go on detours."

"This isn't your—"

"I've watched you do this more than once, you idiot. Shut up and get moving." Kurogane tossed the blankets off, and Fai shivered, pouting resentfully. "It's either we get rid of this, or we leave it and you keep looking behind yourself, or we plow on ahead with your magic until we get the feather and scat."

"You sound like a mother hen," Fai grumbled, forehead furrowed, but Kurogane thought he saw the faintest quirk of thin lips. He got to his feet, offered a hand. Fai allowed Kurogane to pull him to his feet. "Who knew? Fierce, grumpy ninja-dog gets sent on an adventure. Becomes a mother hen with two little chicks."

"Shut up," he said, tugging Fai along to the edge of the rock outcrop. "How are we getting across?"

The wizard pulled his hand out of Kurogane's. "It seems we don't have much choice other than a flying blanket."

Kurogane stared at him. "What?"

Fai reached over, tugged away one of the blankets from his grip. "It takes a lot less magic to levitate something this light, Kuro-pon. Cars are really heavy. So, I'm going alone."

"I'm going too," he said. The idiot made a face at him; Kurogane reached up and tapped his chin. "Who knows? You might need some brute force. There's worms below."

"But who's going to keep an eye on the children?" Fai frowned, glancing back at the car. It was quiet inside, like the rest of the desert around them.

Kurogane stretched his senses out. "Nothing nearby. We've left them alone before."

The wizard didn't look convinced. "The worms—"

"The kids are all right. They've got this far." Kurogane returned to the car to tuck the rest of their blankets away. Fai had laid his blanket flat across the ground when he returned, and was tracing glowing violet runes along its sides. "You're not going to write it, like with the other spells?"

"No," Fai said, and left it at that.

He figured that the wizard had no choice but to use his own magic. The thick, plain material floated into the air the moment Fai completed the ring of runes around its edges. "Doesn't look like it'd hold my weight."

Fai huffed a breath of laughter. "Go on, try it now while it's still floating above rock."

So he did. To his surprise, the blanket dipped a little beneath him, but otherwise remained floating. Kurogane crossed his legs, curled one hand around the edge of the blanket, just in case. It still felt rather thin, like it would hardly support anything at all.

The wizard climbed on, settling into the space on the blanket that he'd left. Kurogane raised his eyebrows. "Aren't you going to work on those spells while we're getting there?"

Fai stared blankly at him. He grinned then, a mix of amusement and surprise flitting through his eyes. "It's not a romantic carpet ride, Kuro-sama. Hold on tight."

The blanket shifted under them, and Kurogane rocked backwards. Fai had hunkered down, hands clasped around the forward-facing edge of the blanket. Kurogane kept his grip on the side of the blanket, brought his weight forward as the wind rushed through his hair. When he got his hands around the front of the blanket, like Fai had, he began to appreciate the simple beauty of travelling this way.

The desert skimmed past below them, charred ground and brush alike. This was far quicker than driving, and more exhilarating, because there was empty air all around.

Fai's eyes were bright and alive. In fact, he looked surprised, like he was discovering something long forgotten.

Kurogane kept silent, kept his senses stretched, and watched the little changes on the wizard's face. Blue eyes darkened just as soon as they'd grown wide. Fai's lips pressed together. "Done this before?" he blurted.

The wizard looked away. "No," he said. Kurogane shrugged.

When they reached a familiar patch of torn-up ground, the blanket slowed. Long, blackened corpses lay around far below, and Kurogane identified the circle he'd cleared to give himself space to fight. It was entirely burnt. Fai pulled his notebook out of his robes, flipped the pages open and began tearing his spells out carefully. He brushed a finger across the empty square on the first one, didn't stop to look at the way a blue glow spread through the written runes.

Kurogane reached for the spell. Fai blinked, hesitated, handed it over. They were silent in this—Kurogane folded the birds, while Fai tore the spell sheets out and activated them, folding some himself. The birds piled high in the wells of their crossed legs. By the time he folded the last one, Fai was blowing on the paper birds, watching as they fluttered around in the desert below.

"Is that enough?" he asked. Fai's eyes grew wide; he jerked his gaze towards the hills, hands clenching.

The words that came out of the wizard's mouth were familiar and incomprehensible, all over again.

For a moment, Kurogane tensed, wondering if the kids and Mokona had disappeared on them. They were all still wary of being separated—Fai had been glancing at the kids multiple times a day, tense, as if he expected Mokona to sweep them away once more. "It'll be fine. They're fine," he said. He reached up, bumped Fai's chin, and the blond blinked at him, tension etched through his face. "You've got me. Okay?"

Fai didn't seem to understand. He did, however, relax after a while, pulling deep breaths in through his nose. Kurogane grabbed his hand, gave it a light squeeze. The wizard looked down at their joined hands; it wasn't part of Kurogane's imagination when Fai's fingers tightened around his. He understood, at least, that he still had Kurogane. That was enough.

Kurogane pointed at the notebook, mimicked writing. It wasn't as if Fai's magic would disappear on its own, and there was a higher chance that they'd simply traveled out of Mokona's translation range. The wizard glanced at the collection of rustling wings around them, then back in the direction they'd come from. He exhaled, flipped the notebook open. Kurogane turned away. There wasn't anything he could do right now but watch for danger.

The birds made quick work of cleaning up the area. By the time they were done, Fai had moved them along on their flight path, and had added two more birds to the flock. They exchanged words each time the blanket moved; Kurogane saw relief flood through Fai's face the moment he understood. His entire body sagged.

"Is this enough?" Kurogane asked, when they had all the birds unfolded before they'd made it back to the hills.

Fai glanced sideways at him. "It has to be. I don't have any more."

"We'll do this again later."

Fai didn't answer; Kurogane didn't need him to. They checked on the kids the moment they returned, the wizard all but sprinting over to the car, pressing his face against a glass window. Syaoran and Sakura were still fast asleep, Mokona cradled in the princess's arms.

The wizard sighed and leaned limply against the car. It was cold enough that his breath fogged the glass briefly. Kurogane tapped him on the head, rolled his eyes. All the same, he shared that same relief. "Get some sleep."

Fai settled back down in front of the wheel they'd been sleeping against, pulled his notebook out once more. Kurogane sat next to him, drew the blankets up around them. He pretended not to notice Fai's wide-eyed blink. The idiot did not protest at the contact or the warmth, however. That was all Kurogane needed for now. He returned to sleep, trusting that Fai would wake him up if there was trouble.

* * *

Fai wasn't next to him when he woke. Kurogane blinked sleep from his eyes, squinting up at the pale yellow light bleeding through the velvet sky. Voices murmured on the other side of the car—they were still there, all four of them. Mokona too. After the convoluted mess that was Shara, he was inexplicably glad to find that they hadn't been somehow separated in the middle of the night.

For how much Fai hid his relief behind his loud cheering and exaggerated joy, Kurogane felt exactly the same where the princess and the boy were concerned. He could no longer deny that the kids were important, much like how he couldn't keep away from the idiot wizard. Maybe he even had a soft spot for the pork bun.

He got slowly to his feet, joints popping as he stretched his limbs.

"Hyuu, Kuro-daddy is awake!" Fai called. He was waving a paper napkin, crouched over a cardboard box of their provisions that had been moved to the other side of the rock outcrop. Golden light splashed across the uneven stone, lighting wispy hair in a way that looked very pretty on Fai. "I have breakfast."

Kurogane grunted his acknowledgement, winced when he walked over to the rest of his traveling group. He had not been able to fully remove the cactus spines from his body the night before, and it hurt when he rested his weight on his feet now.

"Does it still hurt?" Sakura asked in concern when the good-morning greetings had died down. Her dusty face was angled up at him, green eyes shimmering. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help with—"

"It's fine," he said gruffly, settled down on the fourth side of the box. Mokona hopped onto his shoulder. She gave him a gentle hug and kiss, stubby paws patting the side of his head. "Tch. There are other things to worry about. How's your face?"

The princess touched her fingertips to the dark splotch on her cheek. "It's not that bad, Kurogane-san. Syaoran-kun and I are fine."

"My injuries don't take long to recover," the boy added from Kurogane's other side, nodding earnestly along with his princess. Fai sat across from him, legs crossed, leaning in so he could rummage deeper within the box.

"That ointment I gave you should help," Fai said. He had a round flatbread spread open in his palm, and was laying strips of something yellow and stringy on them. "Are the both of you feeling better?"

Syaoran nodded. He was staring at Sakura, however, eyebrows drawn together. "Princess, the bruise on your cheek— There are spots in it."

Sakura's forehead wrinkled; she poked at the bruise. Kurogane watched the way her gaze slid downwards. "Really? I can't see them."

The boy glanced around in search of a reflective surface; Mokona puffed up and spat a mirror out. Kurogane snatched it out of the air before it landed in Fai's sandwich and handed it to the girl, who smiled gratefully. Fai, himself, was studying the princess, his own features scrunched up. "I don't believe I've seen that before," he said, with a hint of surprise, "except in Syaoran's bruises."

"I haven't seen it on anyone else, either," Syaoran admitted. "Everyone I know has flat colors in their bruises, and, well, I haven't really seen Sakura-hime injured. Not that I want you to be," he told her hurriedly.

The bruise on Sakura's cheek was a dull yellowish-green and faded around the edges. In the middle, there were pinprick points of maroon evenly spaced out from each other, like blood had clotted beneath the surface of her skin. Kurogane ignored the fact that he'd caused it (what was done was done), reaching forward to tilt her face this way and that, all the better to examine the injury. "How much does it hurt?" he asked.

She shook her head slightly, chin still caught between his fingers. "Not very much at all, if I don't touch it."

Kurogane hadn't seen bruises like that, either. All the bruises he knew had uniform colors, and his cycled from red to purple to green to yellow. That it didn't actively hurt meant it wasn't very severe at all. Come to think of it, he'd seen those bruises when he was training the kid, but he hadn't given them a second thought. "It's just the two of you?"

"I thought I was the odd one out," Syaoran said quietly, his expression carrying the hint of a loneliness that Kurogane knew too well. "I didn't think— Well, I thought there was something wrong with me. But the same thing is happening to Sakura-hime."

Fai was looking at the kids strangely. Kurogane couldn't read what it was flickering in his eyes, so he said instead, "Oi, have you seen anything like this?"

The wizard yanked his attention away from Sakura, but the heaviness (sorrow?) in his hooded gaze lingered. "I— No, I have not. Don't you assume things like that about me, Kuro-rin. I don't know everything."

But he knew why this was happening to the princess and the kid, didn't he. Kurogane studied the blond, caught the way he bit his lip and tried a weak smile on his face. It didn't stay on very well at all.

A ribbon of heat welled up in his gut. Kurogane reached across the cardboard box, cuffed Fai lightly on the chin. "Cut that out. This concerns all of us."

Fai's countenance closed off immediately. He gave a blank smile, leaned away. "I know just as much as you do, Kuro-pon. You're giving me too much credit. Here, Sakura-chan, this is for you," he said, rolling the flatbread up and wrapping it in his paper napkin. "I think that might be preserved fruit and a bit of dried meat. I'm sorry we don't have any firewood left for hot drinks. Kuro-tan used up all the firewood last night."

Kurogane glared at the wizard. The kids were looking worriedly between them, bruise forgotten, and he huffed, turning away. The last thing he needed was for them to worry about what was going on between him and Fai, or worse, see through the idiot's lies. Fai kept their spirits up when they were down.

"Whatever." Both the princess and the kid still looked uncertain, though, so Kurogane changed the subject. "So we agree that the bruises are normal for these two. That's fine. Have you thought about how we're getting off this hill?"

"I have, actually." Fai sent him a gloating look; he pulled another flatbread from its wax paper wrapping, distributed more stringy yellow fruit across its surface. "All we have to do is round the side of the hill—from there, it's a straight slope down."

From what he'd seen of the hill the night before, Kurogane was certain that it didn't sound quite as easy as Fai made it out to be. "You drive, then."

The wizard pouted at him, chapped lips glistening in the morning light. "But Kuro-puu is the best driver among all of us, isn't he?"

"You're not that bad yourself." He continued to glare.

"You have the most experience with this car." Fai's smile was very innocent, and there was a touch of smugness to his voice. He scattered bits of shredded reddish meat over the bread, rolled it up, and handed it to Syaoran in a new napkin. "I'm sure we all agree that this isn't the best place for me to practice."

He was right. Kurogane glared. He'd get the idiot back for this, somehow. Fai smiled at him, rolled a third flatbread up for Mokona.

"About that conversation you had with Kuro-daddy last night," Fai said, pulling a fourth piece of bread out. The kids blinked at him. Kurogane saw the moment they realized what he meant, their eyes growing wide, mouths ceasing to chew. He wanted to strangle the idiot. Causing the kids to choke wasn't on any of their agendas. "What he really meant to say was that it was a huge misunderstanding. Kuro-myu and I aren't having sex or anything like that. That was just a comic that fell into our possession."

For a moment, Kurogane stared at Fai, who was looking at Sakura and Syaoran and nowhere near him. He had that smile on his face again, that very fake smile that Kurogane was certain everyone could see through. (And it hurt, Fai dismissing all they'd done like this.)

(He was right, too—what was there to change between them, when there was nothing at all in the first place?)

It was mostly for the sake of Fai's own conscience that he was even doing this, Kurogane could tell. Because Fai would return to him, sooner or later, slap in the face be damned. The idiot wanted to be held close and pleasured and fucked so he could forget about everything else he was running from. And Kurogane indulged him. Kurogane would draw him close and kiss him because he was important. Fai was worth more than any limb of his.

"We understand," Syaoran mumbled. Sakura nodded solemnly. "We're sorry for bringing it up, Kurogane-san, Fai-san."

"Will Kurogane still read the book to Mokona?" the white thing asked from his shoulder. He glanced askance at her, ground his teeth.

"No," Kurogane said, ignoring the way she slumped. To the wizard, he added, "you're an idiot."

Fai smiled and rolled up the fourth flatbread and thrust it at him, looking at some point above his shoulder. "Every ninja needs a good breakfast," he answered. Kurogane took the bread, bit into it, noting the way the kids seemed to relax ever so slightly. "I'll make you another one when you're done."

"You eating any yourself?" he asked.

Fai had dropped his gaze to his own piece of bread, skimping on the fruit and meat he laid on it. Kurogane narrowed his eyes. "Yes, yes. Such a mother hen, Kuro-pi."

"I'm not a mother hen. Idiot."

Three sets of eyes bounced back and forth between them. Kurogane sighed, shoved bread into his mouth and chewed. It wasn't bad, not really. The bread was dense, firm and dry, and the sweetness of the fruit was a pleasant contrast to salty meat. They'd skipped buying cheeses and dairy in the marketplace they landed in so there wouldn't be things they couldn't eat and couldn't keep, and Kurogane had appreciated their consideration for his limits.

"Did you sleep well?" Fai asked the children while they ate. Kurogane sat out of conversations like these, when Fai would cheer everyone up and get them smiling and happy. He didn't need shallow talk to make him feel better. What he did need was Fai being honest about anything at all, and that wasn't going to happen.

When breakfast was over, Fai packed up, sending Syaoran and Mokona off to check that the campfire was properly banked. He gave Kurogane an odd look, one Kurogane thought he should recognize, before turning to Sakura. The girl was wearing a frown.

"How are you holding up with the bleeding, Sakura-chan?" Fai asked quietly, folding the crinkly food wrappers up. "Are you in need of more bleeding cloths?"

She shook her head, limp hair swaying. "Moko-chan has plenty stored from the previous time, Fai-san. I don't think there's a need to worry about that."

"But?" the wizard prompted.

"It's starting to itch," she said lowly, a light flush dusting her cheeks. "I've been trying to hold my pee in, just in case the worms come again somehow, but—"

"It's not healthy if you do that," Fai cut in, his mouth drawing tight. "You should pee when you need to. Don't worry about the worms. Kuro-rin will take care of them. Where does it itch?"

Her fingers twitched. She brought her hand towards herself and paused midway, looking between Kurogane and Fai, and down at the slate-grey rock. "Well, it's not... It's not a very accessible place."

Fai took her hand and tried on a smile for her sake, even though worry was shining through his eyes. "Would you mind if I take a look at it, Sakura-chan? I know a bit about medicine. Maybe I can help."

She looked at Kurogane again, and it was clear that his attention was causing the princess distress. Kurogane clicked his tongue, stood up to walk away.

"Kuro-tan," Fai called. He turned back to look at the wizard. Fai was frowning, surveying their temporary campsite. "We need you around in case the worms show up. Be prepared to fight, okay?"

"I'm always prepared," he grumbled, stalking away to patrol the rock outcrop. On the other side of the car, Syaoran was poking through the remnants of the campfire, and Mokona was dancing around the fire pit. Kurogane turned his attention to the land around them.

They were on a wide ledge of sorts near the top of a cliff, with a solid rock face jutting up on one side. Scrawny shrubs grew out of cracks in the rocks. Past the outer edge, lit by the yellow glow of the first of two suns, a vast expanse of loose rock sloped down towards the charred desert, wrapped steeply around the side of the cliff. The loose rock was nearly level with one segment of the ledge; Kurogane could see why Fai would suggest driving along that and following the slope down to the other side of the cliff. If the path was as smooth as they imagined it to be.

But didn't the kid say they'd be safe here because it was solid rock? Kurogane was certain that the worms would be able to burrow through debris to reach this ledge.

"Hey," he began, turning towards the side of the car where he'd last seen Fai and Sakura. They weren't both on the rocky ground, however. Fai was bent over by an open passenger door, one hand clasped around the door frame. From his vantage point, Kurogane could see bare shins propped up on the seat in front of him, and were those _bare thighs_ —

It felt like his mind was on the verge of breaking when he stared (Fai looking between Sakura's bare legs was just _wrong_ ), until he remembered their conversation from before, about the princess and her discomfort. He didn't think Fai's looking meant something like _this_ , but in hindsight, it seemed the most straightforward method possible.

Kurogane turned away when Fai reached into the car with his other hand. This was something he had no business seeing. He located Syaoran and Mokona on the other side of the car, talking about something or other, and placed himself close to the open door, facing the open slope around the rock outcrop. The sand worms had surged out of the ground when the princess had gone to relieve herself—what more now, when Fai was examining her? Already, he could discern the faintest scent of blood in the air.

The desert was completely silent for a long stretch. Fai was murmuring at the same time Mokona sang, and Kurogane felt the oily darkness of a life force as it tunneled through the rocky slope. It moved as rapidly as its counterparts had the day before. The worm was far in the distance one moment, and heartbeats later, it had exploded out of the slope, rearing up above him in a shower of loose rock.

"Idiot," he yelled, drawing his sword. From the corner of his eye, Kurogane saw Fai wiping his hand on his robes. The worm swerved away from him, headed straight for the wizard. With a roar, Kurogane unleashed a pulse of lightning, watching with satisfaction as it crackled through the heavy body of the creature, its scales charring from the sheer heat of the attack. "Get out of here!"

Fai slammed the door shut, whirled around, his face a calm mask. "Syaoran-kun, Mokona, get in the car now," he said, loud and clear as he watched the worm thump heavily onto the edge of the rock outcrop. It writhed, shapeless mouth gaping open, and rolled off the ledge. "Front seat, Syaoran-kun. Get the car running."

"More coming," Kurogane said. He could feel them approaching, two just past the edge and a handful more in the slope further below. Syaoran began to protest; all he needed was a pointed look from Fai, before he sprinted over to the car, pulling the door shut behind himself. The car engine whickered to life. The instant the worms reared up over the ledge, Kurogane loosed a lightning dragon through them. Bright white electricity speared through their bodies; they spasmed, dark mouths wide, and Fai shouted behind him.

"Kuro-rin! We have to go!"

"I know that!" he snapped back. The other worms were still fast approaching, and if they lingered, the car would be hemmed in by rock and corpses. "Get in and drive!"

"I can't—"

"Drive or fight. Pick one." Kurogane focused his attention on the new monsters tunneling towards them. The boy had been right in a way—the worms could not travel through the solid rock beneath them, though that didn't mean they couldn't burrow through debris, and then attack them from there. That they'd got through the night was a damn miracle as it was. When Fai still did not move, Kurogane turned and glared at him. "What're you still standing here for? Leave a door open for me!"

Another worm burst out of the slope below, leaving itself wide open for an attack. Kurogane took it, squinting as the second sun peeked past the horizon. He didn't need his sight to fight, but two suns would cause burns the longer he stayed out, and the temperature of the surrounding air would rise. He would be losing energy too quickly once it got hot enough.

Fai had come to the same conclusion, it seemed, because he spun on his heel and climbed into the driver's seat. "I'm turning this around, Kuro-pon. Sakura-chan will leave a door open for you. Don't bring the worms in."

"I'm not an idiot," he shot back. He kept his back to the cliff behind, stepped closer to the edge of the ledge so Fai had space enough to reverse the vehicle.

Four worms erupted from the slope below in quick succession; Kurogane nailed them all in one attack, piercing a fifth as it emerged. Charred and lifeless, the carcasses rolled down the rocky slope, loose shingle skidding down in their wake.

Tires squealed on the rocky ground. Kurogane turned slightly to watch Fai's progress as he attempted what was called a "three-point turn" back on another world. Another wave of worms approached; he readied his next attack, concentrating his energy into a high, thin, crackling thing.

But the creature that shot out of the ground was different. It was longer and thinner and more sinewy than the rest, with a diamond-shaped, snake-like head and fangs that glistened from wide-open jaws. Scarcely had Kurogane noted its differences when it spat a cloud of _something_ at him. He swore and leaped back.

They were minute droplets of myriad colors, he realized, just as he was about to unleash his attack. He couldn't use lightning on this creature, or he'd risk having the mist conduct electricity all around them.

This hesitation cost him precious milliseconds; the snake struck in that opening, gaping jaws lunging toward him. Kurogane dodged to the side to swing a blow at it, at the same time it read his movements and jerked, so the edge of his sword glanced off its scales. He kicked at the ground, forced to back further, into whatever space Fai was maneuvering in. The car honked at him; he twisted just in time to avoid smashing his side into metal, sending a series of cutting gales howling at the snake. "Damn it!"

There was a flash of movement in the car. Sakura had leaned over to swing the door open for him, and in the time Kurogane thought about taking the two steps into the car, the snake curled in on itself to defend against the gale, landing heavily on the rock outcrop in a slithering mess of scales.

It blocked the car from the rest of the slope. Kurogane raised his sword to cleave the snake in two. It sensed his motion, turned and opened its mouth wide. He had barely enough time to yell the name of his attack when the snake launched itself at him. Gashes opened up in the pinkish roof of its mouth; blood splattered on rock. The rest of his attack slid uselessly off its scales. Incensed, now, the snake lunged at him, spraying venomous mist at both him and the car.

Kurogane wasn't in time to dodge the attack. He had been trying to shut the door so the spray wouldn't get into the car, but a handful of droplets splashed onto his robe, burning tiny perforations through thick cloth. Some hit his face and hands, burning spots of acid on his skin.

The snake seized his moment of distraction to bear down on him, and Kurogane leaped away from the car, turning in midair to slice at the creature. Unlike the sightless worms, the snake swerved to avoid his attack, instead coming at him from his other side.

"Get going," he yelled at Fai, checking to make sure there was a clear path down. The fight with the snake was taking far too long; more worms were approaching, and he needed a lightning-based attack to burn those down.

Fai's expression through the windshield was drawn. He revved the engine so the tires squealed once more, bringing the car to the far edge of the ledge. The sound drew the snake's attention. Kurogane seized that opening to cast a lightning dragon at it, now that Fai and the kids were mostly out of the poison mist, and watched with a surge of triumph when the attack connected, charring the creature's gleaming green scales.

The snake shuddered and thrashed. Its mouth opened wide, and that same acid spurted all across the rock outcrop. Kurogane rolled behind the car, hissed when a stray drop caught on his hair, trailing a line of heat down the back of his neck. The passenger door opened on his side. Sakura scrambled back to make space for him, and he'd barely thrown himself in when more acid splattered onto the open door, sending puffs of rapidly-dissipating steam into the air as it corroded plastic and metal alike.

Fai didn't wait for him to shut the door. He'd gunned the engine in the next instant, throwing all of them back into their seats as the car pulled forward. Kurogane swore, righted himself and grabbed for the door handle, slamming it tightly shut. "Seat belt, Kuro-rin," Fai called over his shoulder. The car lurched downwards, off the ledge. Through the dusty windshield, Kurogane saw the silhouettes of another three sand worms emerging over them. "It'll be a rough ride!"

The car careened to the side as a worm bore down on them, shapeless mouth gaping. Kurogane was thrown against the door, the sleeve of his robe brushing up against the remnants of snake poison. Fabric darkened and disintegrated; he grabbed a handful of the material, scrubbing at his face and hands and the back of his neck. Numbness dragged through his skin.

"Are you hurt?" Sakura asked breathlessly. Mokona hopped up onto his shoulder, as if she could really help.

"Seat belt, Kuro-pon," Fai said again, meeting Kurogane's eyes briefly through the rear view mirror. There was an urgent edge to his tone, and he stopped talking abruptly to jerk the steering wheel to the other side, throwing Kurogane hard against Sakura as the car swerved, narrowly avoiding a worm that had burrowed out of the slope on their right. "We don't need you concussed right now."

"All right," he snapped, grabbing at the satiny grey belt behind him, hints of pain whispering across his arm. "I heard you the first time."

The car was tipped at a disconcerting angle to the cliff face. Rocks flew by them as they drove forward. In the distance, Kurogane could see pale blue sky and flat land, with untouched green brush and rifts raking through the ground.

He was about to shove the metal eye into its buckle when Fai turned the car sharply up the slope, slowing it down. A worm crashed onto where they would have been, and the tires lost traction on loose rock, skidding so the back of the vehicle pointed down the slope. Next to them, the worm picked itself up. Fai stepped so hard on the gas that the rocks sprayed out from beneath the wheels, but the car did not budge.

Kurogane cursed, clambering over Sakura and throwing her door open. He yanked his sword out, sent a wind blade at the creature. It was sliced in two, top end sliding heavily off with a squelch and rolling down the slope. The rest of the creature was alive. Others were picking their way over, moving in for the kill.

"Get moving!" he shouted at the wizard. There was no way the'd be able to survive this attack, unless he got out of the car to fight. There seemed to be no end to these worms. All they'd be doing was to attract the rest of the colony to this place. "Can't you fly us out?"

He didn't have to look to know that Fai had tensed. The kids looked between him and Fai, and the next two worms burrowing just beneath the ground towards them, leaving a trail of raised loose debris wherever they moved. Kurogane gritted his teeth and stepped out of the car, flinging another lightning attack through the ground. The closer of the two worms sizzled; the other followed suit.

"We don't have to fly," Sakura said worriedly. "It's not good for Fai-san to use his magic, right?"

"If you don't get in right now, Kuro-tan, I'm leaving you behind," Fai added, stepping lightly on the gas. The engine growled louder; the vehicle trundled slowly out of the ruts it had dug. "Besides, I think we're okay now."

Kurogane wasn't one to argue when there was a way out. He threw himself back into the car where Sakura had made space for him, shut the door. Fai sent the car forward at once, correcting their direction the moment they were a safe distance from the decapitated worm, which had almost mended itself completely. Kurogane kept an eye on it, tracked the locations of the other reeking presences that were growing ever closer.

The sheer steepness of the slope aided their escape. Once Fai had got the car rolling, it gained speed, almost dangerously so. Inside, the rumble of machinery on jolting rocks was deafening. The boulders and shrub at the bottom of the slope approached at mind-numbing speed, and Kurogane could read the trajectories of the worms on the slope, saw the way Fai drove to put as much distance as he could between them and their pursuers.

Fai was good at driving, but Kurogane already knew that, had seen his skill through the other worlds. He scrubbed at the back of his head again, anchored his feet against the back of Syaoran's seat so he could buckle himself into place. The rest of the ride was rough. They bumped their heads hard against the windows, were jerked sideways in their seats. At one point, his stomach swooped when the car flew off a low ledge, only to crash back onto the slope and continue forward.

They weren't in time to avoid a worm. Kurogane felt it surge up before them at the same time Fai yelped, "oops!"

The sheer force of that impact splashed murky green blood and bits of flesh across the windshield. All of them jerked against their seat belts; Kurogane swore when his head snapped painfully backwards. Mokona flew straight into Syaoran's headrest and bounced off with a wail. He would have let her be, but Sakura made a grab for her, soothing the white lump.

Kurogane's skin crawled when he thought about the tiny, regenerating pieces of worm tissue on the car, worming their way into nooks and crannies. Fai didn't appear to be concerned about that. He continued to drive with opaque green obscuring his vision—Kurogane knew him to be steering by his senses alone, and yet. Green blood. The writhing worm bits.

Syaoran found the button to operate the windshield wiper. Both kids sagged with relief when they could see again, and Fai's appreciation was bright and cheerful. Kurogane didn't feel any of it.

By the time they reached the lumpy shrubs at the bottom of the hill, they were all high-strung in some way or other. The princess was ashen and shaky; Syaoran's eyes bugged out. His knuckles were white. Fai hid his stress away by grinning brightly at them all. Kurogane just wanted to get out of the car and raze it to the ground. Instead, he reached over to grab Fai by the shoulder, feeling the way wiry muscles were tense beneath his fingers. Fai did not relax at his touch.

"We should be fine now," he said. "There's enough dust to cover our tracks from all that."

Their rampage down the hill had left a cloudy trail behind them. There was dust everywhere inside the car, too, suspended in the air and sticking to all their faces. It wasn't ideal, but he didn't sense any more worms on their tail as they crashed through low, spiny bushes and rolled onto a wide expanse of cracked dirt.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

One of the lights on the dashboard came on suddenly, a loud pinging that was even more annoying than the ticking of the faulty turn signal. Kurogane frowned; Fai slowed the car to a crawl. "What is it?"

Syaoran leaned over to look at the blinking display. He muttered to himself, looked at the parts of the vehicle he could see, before reaching for his seat belt. "I think it's something to do with the tires. They might be going flat."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have exactly 2 weeks to finish writing this fic before husband and I leave the country for a bit. Not good. Send motivation please? :(


	4. A Flat Tire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter we've been waiting for! LOL It's maybe not as funny as you think it is. ;)

"What's wrong with a flat tire?" Kurogane asked as they piled out of the car in the middle of the wide, open landscape. Aside from the hill, it was flat ground as far as the eye could see, with the exception of a few piles of dark rock in the distance. Closer, there were wiry shrubs scattered around them, some in ditches, some on little raised mounds of dirt. The two suns of Harasa were shining harshly down; Kurogane could feel their stinging rays through the wider holes in his cloak. "Close the doors behind you. Don't want any of that worm getting in the car."

Syaoran began his explanation when Kurogane was satisfied with the shut doors. "The wheels keep the car level. If the car drives on a flat tire, the wheel will get really damaged. We won't be able to fit another tire onto it."

The kid and his princess trailed after Kurogane as he circled the car, cataloging the splashes of silver where snake venom had eaten away at the paint on the exterior. Syaoran had been right about the wheels—on the side of the car with more acid damage, a pin-sized hole had opened on the rear tire, and the dark rubber had begun to sag closer to the ground.

"So... All we have to do is replace it with the spare we've got, right?" Fai asked. He was standing next to Kurogane, smile stretched tight across his face. Syaoran nodded.

The car they'd bought had come with a spare tire. It wasn't really a car, one of the merchants at the marketplace had insisted. The machine was a "four-wheel drive" (whatever that meant), and its steel-reinforced underbelly and deep-threaded tires made it an all-terrain vehicle that was worth as much as they'd paid. Not that Kurogane cared about anything except its functionality, which was starting to show with how much they'd been putting it through.

He walked to the back of the angular, box-like vehicle, scrutinizing the tire at the back. "Help me with this, kid."

Syaoran hurried up to examine the tire attachment while Fai drew the princess to the side, talking to her in muted tones. His forehead was wrinkled, and he was looking between Sakura and the hill they'd just driven down. Kurogane was abruptly reminded of the examination that had necessitated their harried, awkward departure.

"Did you find out what's wrong?" he asked, drawing the wizard's attention. "With the princess."

Sakura flushed; Fai grimaced and talked quietly to her. Syaoran looked up in concern. A little tendril of doubt crept into Kurogane's chest, and he saw when Fai realized he couldn't get out of an explanation.

"I have an infection," Sakura said bravely. Fai turned and gaped at her, and Kurogane felt pride swell in his chest, that the princess had more honesty in her than the wizard did. "It's... in a bad spot."

"We'd have to return to the city for a remedy," Fai added. His frown deepened. "It's not something we thought to prepare for, I'm afraid."

"No, it's fine. You don't have to worry about me," Sakura countered, shaking her head firmly. "It's a long ways back to the city. All of you are on this journey for my sake, so I can't possibly ask any more of you."

"But we can't allow this to happen." The wizard looked to Kurogane and Syaoran for support. "She's in pain."

Syaoran gasped. He abandoned the spare tire to hurry over, and Kurogane watched as the boy clenched his fists to refrain from grabbing Sakura's hands. "What kind of infection is it, Princess? I'll do my best to find a cure—"

Kurogane sighed. It seemed that there would be no aid forthcoming for now, so he headed over to where Fai was. "What is it?" he muttered.

The wizard stepped away from the kids, both to give them privacy, as well as to move out of earshot. "Yeast infection," he answered quietly, watching as Syaoran fussed over Sakura. "It's not life-threatening, but it's painful while she has it."

It wasn't anything he'd heard of before. Infections were something he didn't fall prey to often, and feminine infections were completely outside the scope of his knowledge. "How do you even know that stuff?"

Fai angled a smug little look at him; the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. "Who knows? You're nosy, Kuro-pon."

Kurogane rolled his eyes, reached up to knock the idiot on the head. Fai dodged it neatly. "What are our options?"

"I don't have the herbs for a cure in this world," Fai murmured, looking at the only species of brush around them. He had reached up to smooth a hand over his elbow, and Kurogane caught a hint of helplessness in his eyes. "The next best option would be to use a garlic clove, but we have none of that, either. There were some in the marketplace. I remember seeing them."

But the princess had said not to, and Kurogane was all for letting her decide. "If she says no, then we keep going."

"How could you?" Fai retorted. "She's in pain, Kuro-sama, we can't just—"

"How do you propose even teaching her to fight if she can't handle pain?" he shot back. In this, he knew he had a point. Training landed one with bruises of all sorts, even if the student in question had an obscenely lucky streak. Sakura was bound to be injured.

The blond bit his lip, watching as the princess blushed and smiled at Syaoran's attention. "Especially your way of training. Syaoran-kun came back all black and blue, and he was exhausted."

Kurogane shrugged. "He wanted to learn. That's the way I teach."

"And we all know you're very good with your sword." Fai slanted a look at him.

He froze. He wasn't sure if the idiot had meant the insinuation, but it sounded indecent in a way that had heat creeping up his neck. Fai still maintained that nothing had happened between them, didn't he? "Guess you'd be a good judge of that."

The wizard blinked, his mouth opened halfway, meeting Kurogane's eyes for a heartbeat. He hadn't expected that answer, Kurogane could tell, and he was backpedaling into safer territory the next instant. "I'm a good judge of many things, of course."

Kurogane snorted. If that was what the idiot wanted to believe, then so be it. He just didn't think they'd be flirting while there were multiple issues at hand. "Sure. Do we have anything to help the princess?"

"I'm sure Mokona has some painkillers," Fai said thoughtfully. He studied Kurogane for a bit, and his gaze sharpened. "Sakura-chan mentioned that you were hurt, earlier. What happened?"

Kurogane reached for the rawness at the back of his neck; Fai was stepping up and tugging off his hood before he could protest. The wizard sucked in a sharp breath.

"This looks bad," he said, grabbing at Kurogane's wrist to stop him from aggravating the burn. He raised his voice. "Syaoran-kun! A bottle of water, please."

"Tch." Kurogane tugged his hand back. He replaced his hood. "It's just a small wound. It'll heal."

"This isn't an ordinary burn," Fai said shortly. Kurogane was surprised by the heat in his tone, so he allowed the other to drag him into the scant double shadow of the car. "Lie on your side, Kuro-pon. I need to wash the burns out."

"Can't be worse than the spines," he muttered, but complied anyway.

It was just the slightest bit cooler in the shade. A web of shallow cracks stretched across the ground, breaking its surface into fist-sized clumps of dirt. Kurogane had seen fractured ground like this once, when there was a long drought in Nihon and one of the lakes in the country had dried completely. The lake had been reduced to mud, and the mud had dried into hard dirt.

The ground burned hot through his robes and into his bicep. A plastic bottle crinkled in Fai's hand. With his head this close to the ground, he could look up at the underbelly of the car. It was heavily-scratched but still intact, and slick, greenish blood had splattered across the metal plate, dripping thickly down onto the peeling ground. Cool water splashed onto his scalp and neck; pain seared into his flesh. "Ow! Fuck!"

Like the remnants of spines that were still buried in his foot and chest, the shallow pain was sharp and hot, and Kurogane stayed still while Fai held his cloak away, dousing his hair and neck with what was probably an entire bottle of water. The water splashed onto pale ground, and what liquid there was seeped into the cracks, leaving darkened yellow-brown dirt behind.

"You should be fine now," Fai said quietly, dabbing him dry with a folded wad of his cloak. "Don't keep hiding your injuries, Big Doggy."

"Speak for yourself," he said. "I'm not a dog."

"You bark enough to be one." Thin fingers ruffled through his hair, and Fai was gone just as suddenly, leaving Kurogane to pick up after himself. They were back to teasing, it seemed. "Sakura-chan!" the idiot said from somewhere behind the car, "while Kuro-pi and Syaoran-kun fix the car, why don't I show you the comics we drew in Yama?"

"Tch." Kurogane shook the water off his head, appreciating the brief coolness against his skin when it evaporated. It wasn't as if the idiot could draw on the ground here—it was hard, and he'd have to use a lot more strength to get a knife through dirt like that. "Oi, kid. Get over here."

Syaoran hurried over apologetically. Kurogane could tell that the boy had been curious about Fai's drawings, though it wasn't like the comics were worth looking at. (Besides, he could always join the other two after they'd got this fixed.)

They quickly came to the conclusion that the tire was held in place by three metal bits, and that there wasn't any way they could unscrew those with their bare hands.

"There might be a tool to help remove it somewhere," Syaoran suggested. He opened up the back of the car, frowned at the stacked boxes of their supplies. Kurogane left him to it, looking between the spare tire and the one that had gone completely limp. The entire car was listing heavily towards the crippled wheel. Cutting the spare tire off wouldn't solve a thing—there were large screws on the other wheel that probably secured it to the rest of the car.

"How far away is the feather?" he asked the white ball of fluff. Mokona hopped over to him, wriggling her way into his hood. At this point, Kurogane figured that there wasn't any point in trying to extricate her from his clothes. It wasn't fair that she was even invulnerable to sunburn. "Think we can walk?"

"It's still far away," she said, lop ears drooping. "And it's so hot."

"We aren't walking just because of a flat tire," Fai called, looking up from the patch of ground that he and Sakura were crouched around. The idiot waved cheerily. "Fix the car! You can do it, Kuro-rin!"

"Maybe if you came over here and helped, it'd be fixed," he snapped. Syaoran was moving boxes around, poking his head into corners and looking behind the seats. "Instead of sitting on your lazy ass."

"What if I sat on your ass instead?" Fai grinned at him, poking his cheek in a way they'd seen schoolgirls do on another world. Everything about that face spelled dishonesty.

Kurogane would have blown him off, except the princess was looking between them uncertainly, almost as if she expected Kurogane to pummel the idiot. Which he could do.

Instead, he remembered the taunt that Fai had left him with earlier. How far would the wizard allow this sort of banter to go? If all they did was talk about inconsequential things, would Fai run from him as well?

"I'd like to see you try," he said flatly.

The wizard blinked at him. Kurogane had a moment to feel victorious. Fai's eyes lit up with interest then, mischief tugging on the corners of his mouth. "Does Kuro-tan think I can't do that?"

"Of course you can't."

This was how things between them started, on the pretext of a challenge (whether Fai recognized that, Kurogane had no idea). But the idiot was on his feet and closing in on him in a heartbeat, and Kurogane thought briefly that this would distract the princess from her discomfort. Blue eyes bore into his; Fai circled around him, clearly intent on bringing him down from the back.

Kurogane held himself light on his feet, spotting Fai's darts and tackles before they could connect. The jabs of pain in his soles were inconsequential by this point; he leaped to the side when Fai threw himself forward, jumped when Fai tried kicking his feet out from beneath him.

It hadn't been long since they left Yama. Kurogane appreciated the sparring nonetheless, felt the gazes of both children locked onto them. If anything, this would be a good demonstration for the kids. They'd never really fought in front of Syaoran and Sakura (and why the hell not? Because Fai was good, and so was he) and the kids could stand to learn a thing or two.

With that in mind, he began to fight back. Surprise flickered across Fai's face. He began to protest, but Kurogane swung a punch at him, tried grabbing the idiot's cloak with his other hand, only to have him slip to the side.

"Do you forfeit?" he asked between blows that Fai blocked with his forearms. The wizard was very good at hand-to-hand combat, and Kurogane had to bring his arm down to divert a knee away from his stomach.

"If that means I can't sit on Kuro-pon's butt, then no." The idiot was still laughing at him. That was fine. Kurogane increased the speed of his attacks. Fai merely dodged them, trying time and again to get into his blind spots.

Then Fai stumbled to the side, somehow, and Kurogane's arm shot out to catch his elbow before his face smashed into the ground. Fai swung towards him.

The wizard smirked; his other hand darted out, slamming into the back of Kurogane's knee. His leg buckled beneath him.

He tried compensating for that by dropping Fai and rolling, but Fai's arms snapped around his middle, and Kurogane's roll turned into an awkward sprawl across the ground, Fai dragging behind him. He turned his face away from the cracked dirt, snapped at the wizard. "You idiot!"

The arms around his midriff tightened. Kurogane scarcely had time to inhale before he felt Fai dragging himself up, his robes catching and tugging Kurogane's along, so its hem hitched up his calves. "I win," Fai crowed.

He couldn't feel the wizard's heat through the layers of fabric, but he could feel the weight of his body, squirming and light and that face pressing into his back. He felt keenly the spread of thin legs as Fai pushed himself up and sat right on his ass and did a little victory jiggle. His hips ground into the dirt. Heat jolted through his gut.

"Hyuu, the view from Kuro-pon's butt is very good."

Kurogane glanced back, saw the way the nitwit was shading his eyes and pretending to look around them. The kids were watching them with the sort of dread they usually had when he chased Fai around, and he couldn't blame them.

Right now, he couldn't decide if he wanted to punch the idiot or pin him down and slowly strip him of that smile.

"You cheated," he growled.

Fai cast an amused glance at him. "All's fair in love and war, Kuro-rin."

He wriggled again. Kurogane glared. "Things'd be different if we were alone right now," he breathed.

Blue eyes grew wide. Fai's smile faltered. He knew very well what Kurogane meant, and Kurogane read his answering desire in the darkening of his eyes. Fai swallowed noisily.

"Get up," he told the wizard. There was another moment of drawn-out silence while Fai struggled to grasp his intended meaning. Kurogane wasn't sure which of them had it worse, but there wasn't anywhere they could go right now—not that they would in bright daylight, anyway. "I have a car to fix."

The idiot pasted his mask back on, slid bonelessly off Kurogane. "Kuro-daddy is right," he said, his voice a pitch too high. "Go on, don't keep us waiting. The car needs to be fixed."

Kurogane rolled into a crouch, leaned forward on his toes to mutter, "I'll fuck you later."

Fai's mask slipped again. Kurogane glimpsed a mix of helplessness and anticipation in his eyes, knew the wizard could no more refuse him than acknowledge what they had. He straightened, turned back to the car, barking at the kid to hurry in his search.

"Later" was if they could find a safe spot for the night, and Kurogane dearly hoped they could.

.

It turned out that there was a metal wrench wedged behind the stacked boxes of their rations. Syaoran had to move half of them out of the cavernous back end of the car, and by the time he'd done that, Fai had commandeered one of their boxes of rations, turned it on its side, and sketched a whole comic across the stiff brown surface.

Kurogane was not impressed. It was one of the very first pages that Fai had ever drawn, of the blond wizard turning Big Doggy into a man, and he couldn't help but grumble, "he shouldn't even have been there at all."

"You're lacking a sense of humor, Kuro-mi." Fai waggled his eyebrows, proceeded to draw a new page of the comic that Kurogane had not seen before. "Look, this is Big Doggy learning to walk like a human!"

He stormed off instead of whacking the idiot across the head. Syaoran looked nervously at Kurogane; his relief was stark when he finally located the wrench. From there, it took barely a minute for Kurogane to unscrew the metal bits holding the spare tire to the back of the car.

Replacing the flat tire was marginally more difficult. The car had listed towards the sagging tire, pinning it to the ground, and the wheel would not come off even after the screws had been taken out. Time and again, Kurogane glanced towards the front of the car, half-expecting a little worm to come flying out at him. The back of his calf still stung from the bites yesterday. His wounds had scabbed over, and he was sorely tempted to pick at them, but picking at a scab in this world proved far more dangerous than it would elsewhere.

So, he ignored it, ignored Fai's inane chatter, and yanked at the flat tire. It refused to budge.

"Maybe we can lift the car up," Syaoran suggested. "Sakura-hime and I did that some worlds back, when we worked in that car repair shop."

Kurogane crouched by the side of the vehicle, grabbing it by the edge and hauling at it. His muscles bulged and strained, and the damn thing barely moved by a fraction of an inch. Syaoran's fingers skidded across the tire thread. "Damn it. Someone help lift the car."

Sakura was the first to scramble over, but he highly doubted that she would be able to do much. Kurogane glanced at Fai, saw the way the blond sidled away, hands behind his back.

"Get over here and help, idiot."

"I don't really have that much strength at all." Fai smiled one of his too-bright smiles, holding his hands out as if it would prove his point. "Besides, you look so good straining like that, Kuro-pon. Especially from behind."

"Keep that up, and I'll show you 'behind'." Which was probably the wrong thing to say, considering the way Fai's eyebrows shot all the way up. Kurogane rolled his eyes, yanked his fallen hood back up so it hid the flush creeping up his neck. "Whatever. We'll find a way around it."

"But shouldn't you help too, Fai-san?" Sakura asked, a frown creasing her forehead.

Fai opened his mouth, but he had nothing to say to that. Kurogane watched smugly as the blond crouched reluctantly next to her, adding his hands to the row of theirs.

The car did not budge even with Mokona's attempt to lift the wheel with her paws, and Kurogane was forced to dismiss the children from their positions by his side. He wanted a way to rid the machine of the worms—they were still on his mind—but he couldn't burn the thing, or run electricity through it.

"Dig a hole under the wheel," he instructed the boy. "That'll help." As for the princess and Mokona, he pointed them to the front. "Look out for worms on the car. Don't touch any of that crap."

"What are you going to do?" Fai asked from his other side.

"Help dig." Kurogane frowned at the wizard. "What're _you_ going to do?"

"Get water for all of you, of course. Can't have anyone suffering from dehydration!" Fai minced to the back of the car, returning with a bottle of water. Kurogane watched as he watered the kids first, handed the bottle to him, then to Mokona (did the white thing even need food to survive?) At the end of it, the wizard granted himself a brief sip of water and stashed the bottle back into the trunk.

"Drink more," he said with a pointed look at Fai.

The idiot blinked at him, eyebrows raised. "Whatever for? I drink just as much as you do."

"No, you don't." The kids were looking at them again. Kurogane wanted to grab Fai and shake him, but it wouldn't change how poorly he thought of himself. "Idiot."

"You keep saying that. What are you digging the ground with? Your bare hands?" Fai leaned in close to Syaoran, who had found a little spade among their supplies. "Oh! That looks useful!"

"Is there only one of those?" Kurogane looked back at the open trunk. There wasn't anything left sitting out in the open, however, save for Fai's bottle of water.

"It's the first one I found," Syaoran admitted, handing the tool over. He returned to riffling through the boxes. "I'll search for more!"

Fai followed Kurogane to the flat tire, crouching down beside him when he began to dig. "We should try and get out of this world as soon as we can," he murmured, glancing towards where Sakura and Mokona were on their hands and knees, peering beneath the car. "Sakura-chan's infection will get worse the longer we stay."

It wasn't something Kurogane had thought about. His injuries healed quickly. If Sakura was so lucky, wouldn't she recover quickly, too? But Fai was the expert on ailments here, not him. "Huh. Didn't think of that."

The wizard looked so despondent that he reached up and tapped him lightly on the chin, so Fai startled, looking back up at him.

"She'll be fine," Kurogane said. "She's stronger than you think."

Fai's entire face scrunched up. "Unlike you, I can't just leave her to suffer by herself."

"She'll get over it." Kurogane rolled his eyes, shoved the spade into hard ground. "Damn. This'll take a while."

"I'll keep all of you fed and hydrated," Fai said, patting him lightly on the shoulder. He put his hands on his knees to push himself up.

"Hey, wait."

Fai stilled, looking expectantly at him.

"We're being watched again. You feel it too?" A faint shadow crossed the other's expression; Kurogane paused in his digging. "Wasn't there when we were in Yama. Until we found the kids."

"Yeah." Fai was looking fixedly at the tire. It looked as though he knew more than he was willing to reveal.

"Can you track them down? I don't know about you, but I'm damn tired of being watched."

The wizard huffed a breath of laughter. "As expected of you, Kuro-sama. You would want to rid yourself of all threat."

He saw the way Fai's eyes weren't the least bit amused. "Well?"

"Possibly." Fai looked away. "But what's the point of doing that when you don't know if they're friend or foe?"

"It's a damn stalker. I'm sure it's a foe. Even the witch doesn't track us like that."

"Yuuko-san has her own business to tend to." Fai sat back down, eyebrow raised. "Are you going to dig, or not?"

"You help dig," Kurogane grumbled. It didn't make sense, how the idiot didn't seem the least bit concerned about being spied on. It couldn't be his Ashura, or he would have been a lot more desperate to leave. And if it wasn't the witch, then who else could it be? Was their stalker targeting the kids instead? Why would Fai even consider the possibility that it was an ally? Allies did not spy. "You know who it is, don't you?"

"Why would you say that? I'm just some no-name magician." Fai's gaze slid away, and he was wearing that flat smile again. "I will protect Sakura-chan. And Syaoran-kun. You know that."

"Tch." Kurogane resumed his digging.

The spade was small and not entirely sharp, and it took effort to break the compact dirt up. He'd got about half a foot deep into the ground before Syaoran made a muffled exclamation. Kurogane looked up as the boy hurried over with a diamond-shaped frame in his hands.

"I found this," he said breathlessly, falling to his knees next to Kurogane. "It might help."

It was a contraption with movable hinges and a rod that could rotate on a joint. He watched in surprise when Syaoran flipped the rod out and began swiveling it, causing the diamond shape to elongate lengthwise.

"I'd seen something like that in the repair shop," the boy explained. He was bright-eyed, and looked as if he might burst from his excitement. "Frames like that were hanging from the roof in the shop, but I think it might be strong enough to lift the car up."

It looked too fragile to be able to do much. Kurogane shrugged, scooted backwards to give the boy a chance. "Go ahead. Not like we have much to lose."

Fai, Sakura and Mokona had crowded around by this point. The kid's excitement was infectious, and both Fai and Sakura were leaning in, cheeks flushed as they watched the boy set the diamond frame on the ground next to the wheel, feeling around the edge of the car for a good anchoring spot. When the top of the frame reached the car and pressed into it, tipping the vehicle up ever so slightly, even Kurogane was impressed. He hadn't thought that little bit of metal could have helped.

They were saturated with amazement by the time Syaoran lifted the sagging tire an inch off the ground.

"That's very smart of you, Syaoran-kun!" Fai said, his face full of that glowing, soft look again. Kurogane doubted that he would have garnered such a look, himself, but this was fine, watching Fai fall in love with the kids. The princess had admiring praise of her own, and Kurogane got to his feet, both to stretch, as well as to fetch the spare tire.

The old wheel came off easily. Kurogane took it from the boy, handed the new one over. They waited while Syaoran wiped the accumulated dirt and oil off the mount with the hem of his robe ("Sakura-hime and I learned that it's best to attach new parts when both the car and the part are clean," he explained) before sliding the wheel home and fixing it on with the long screws that had been there before.

Kurogane brought the flat tire to the back of the car, securing it with the sun-warmed pieces of metal that had held the previous wheel in place. When Syaoran was done, he ruffled the boy's hair, took the wrench over to tighten the screws. "Not bad, kid."

Syaoran brimmed with pride. He was wiping his hands off on his robes when Fai went up to give him a hug. Kurogane shoved the wrench back into the trunk, unwound the diamond frame so it lowered the car onto its new wheel.

"Can't afford to split another tire," he said.

"You're so full of positivity and good cheer, Kuro-rinta," Fai chided. He was wearing a smile though, standing with Kurogane and watching as Sakura heaped praise onto the kid, Mokona bouncing around them. "I'm glad there's a silver lining to this. They look happy, don't they?"

"Just stating the facts." Kurogane shrugged, dusted his hands off, and returned to the driver's seat. "Time to go. Get in."

Fai ended up being the one to usher the kids into the car, and by the time they ducked into the shade, each of them sighed similar breaths of relief. It had grown dizzyingly hot out in the sun. Kurogane shut his eyes briefly, accepted the bottle Fai pressed into his hand.

Their journey passed a lot quicker on flat ground. With Mokona's directions and Syaoran's map-reading, Kurogane had them speeding towards the edge of the dry lake. They jolted roughly over dry ditches twice, and Kurogane learned to anticipate steep dips in the ground from the way little round bushes grew along the sides of the ditches, marking their locations across the land.

Fai started up a string of chatter once more. This time, he asked about the kids' experiences in Shara. Kurogane watched the princess as she bubbled with enthusiasm, describing the exhilaration of walking on tightrope. It was easiest when she held a horizontal stick, she said, and she wished she had the chance to try walking on the swaying, lax ropes that only the experienced tightrope walkers were allowed to cross.

There were lines around Syaoran's mouth as he listened. Kurogane knew of the boy's protectiveness, was quietly glad that the princess had been able to learn a skill without his concern hampering her. Fai, too, looked at the girl with a mix of horror and pride. He exchanged a look with Kurogane in the rear view mirror.

The wizard was really hopeless where it came to the kids. And Kurogane was really hopeless where it came to Fai.

He smirked at the idiot, more as a response than anything else. Fai stared at him for a moment, looking for all the world like his breath had been punched out, and glanced quickly away.

_The hell?_

Kurogane frowned. He hadn't done anything to make the idiot uncomfortable... had he? Why else would Fai react that way? It wasn't as if he was flustered, or anything like that. (But if it was— If it _was_ —)

He gulped, felt his heart kicking at his ribs, and focused on the land once more. Fai was afraid of the whole love thing.

(But still.)

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

"We should be heading northwest," Syaoran said, looking up from the map. He pointed at a spot through the middle of the grimy, stained windshield. "There are dry washes up ahead. They can be difficult to cross, so we should try going around them if we can."

Kurogane followed his directions. They passed over the edge of the lakebed into a field of low brush once more, and he had to slow the car down, driving over spiky plants and cacti of various shapes and sizes—ones that looked like a hemisphere, ones that were wide and flat like his hand, and speckled all over. There was a greater variety of plants, now, too. Where it had been the same tall, wiry shrubs with little yellowish-green leaves before, there were now wispy grey-green bushes with more leaves than stem, and plants with little white balls of seeds swinging from their branches.

What he hadn't anticipated was the slope of the land. From the top of the hill, this entire area had seemed flat. Yet, now that they were on the ground, the land dipped and rose and obscured what he could see of the terrain up ahead. Kurogane trusted in his instincts and drove where Syaoran directed him to, sensing no large creatures around them. The car creaked as they rolled over little plants, and the turn signal clicked.

For all the quiet of the desert, there was actually animal life if he looked closely enough. He spotted a tortoise crawling along next to a smooth boulder, a jackrabbit standing between sharp, yellowish spikes of grass, its ears twitching. A lizard was perched atop a rock, and once, he saw a snake coiled up in a dip of the ground. All of these were potential food sources, especially snakes—snakes nested together, and they would be what he'd hunt first, if it came down to that.

"Ever had snake?" he asked over his shoulder, when the conversation in the back drew to a lull.

"Aren't they poisonous?" Sakura answered, green eyes growing wide. She looked between him and Syaoran, who wore a thoughtful frown.

"My father said they were edible, but you'd have to remove the venom in their heads."

"Did he say how you catch them?" Syaoran shook his head. "You loop a piece of rope or wire over the nest entrance. When it pokes its head out, you pull hard on the rope. If you use a sturdy wire, it takes their head right off."

The boy turned a pale shade of green, and Sakura covered her mouth in shock.

"So violent, Kuro-pon." Fai's tone was appreciative. He reached into the back of Kurogane's cloak, brushed his neck with a finger. Kurogane swallowed, concentrated on the open land ahead of them. "Where I come from, 'eating snake' has a whole different meaning."

"Don't think I want to know," he said.

The wizard continued to speak, regardless. "There are snakes with only one eye, and they love hiding in clothes." That same finger tapped lightly on the side of his neck. "Have you had snake, Kuro-rin?"

"What kind of question is that?" He couldn't look Fai in the eye. (Damn that idiot.) Of course he'd had snake. He'd followed their tracks in the fields of Nihon, come across nests of writhing, gleaming scales. The other kind of snake, well.

"An innocent one, of course. But have you eaten snake?" Fai pressed. When Kurogane finally chanced a look at him, the wizard's eyes were bright, and a smile was hanging loosely from his mouth. "Do you like how they taste?"

"Why don't you answer the question first, you idiot." Heat was creeping up his neck, into his ears. How had a casual question about hunting turned into this?

"I eat them whole." Fai _smiled_ at him. Kurogane could see the way the wizard was trying not to double over with laughter.

"You can't eat them whole. Your mouth isn't big enough." And then he regretted saying that, because Fai's grin grew all the more cunning for it.

There were kids in the car, for fuck's sake.

"They fit right in my mouth. I can demonstrate. Or maybe my—"

"You will not," he thundered. He didn't need to see Fai trying to eat any kind of snake. Really. Wasn't the idiot in denial about anything they did? Kurogane seethed, glaring at the spiny green plants disappearing beneath the car.

But he had no witty comeback to any of that, and in that way, Fai had won. When he looked again in the mirror, the idiot was wearing a gloating smile.

Sometimes, he really hated Fai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fai is SUCH a troll. I love him to bits. LOL
> 
> Anyhow, the dry lakebed is based off Lucerne dry lakebed in southern California (where husband and I got married during sunrise, but who wants to know that pfft), the hill is based off something like Monument Valley maybe, and the shrub-filled plains are based off the Pinto Basin. ;) In case anyone was curious.
> 
> Harasa is on a weekly update schedule, and I'm currently writing chapter 8... the entire arc should be about 9-10 chapters long. I'll likely finish it before I leave the country. The thing is, we're flying next Thurs, so Chapter 5 should be up before we go, but I honestly have no idea if there'll be time for edits beyond that. Will be gone for a total of about three weeks... I'll queue the unedited chapters up on tumblr for like March just in case something happens to me on the trip and I don't make it back intact or something. ;)


	5. A Discovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will be out of the country for the next 3 weeks or so - if something happens to me, the next 5 chapters will be posted on Tumblr March 7 onwards. Apologies if replies are late!

The first dry wash they came across wasn't inaccessible at all.

A dry wash, Syaoran had explained, was land that water flowed over when it rained in the desert. When the boy cautioned him that the area coming up might be steep, Kurogane had gone slow, expecting to see a sharp drop right in front of them. Instead, all they encountered was a gentle hill leading into flat land. Low shrub covered the landscape, interspersed by river rock of all sizes. The rocks made the drive bumpy; he had to get out of the car to cut another path through the landscape.

By the time they got to the other side of the wash, the suns were high in the sky, and Fai was passing around bottles of water more frequently than before. They had discovered, early on, that keeping the windows completely rolled up wasn't an option at all. It was far more tolerable to endure the moving, dry air from the outside, than try and trap cool air within the car—the roof of the car would heat whatever air they had until it was past toleration.

Kurogane steered the car up the slope. It put a great amount of strain on the car, until Syaoran noticed that they had been driving with two wheels all this time. He shifted a lever on the center console. Immediately, the humming of the engine increased beneath them, and it took far less effort for the car to climb the hill than before.

"Not all cars have this function," the boy was saying. "When we drive with all four wheels, there's greater traction with the ground."

"Then we should've been driving that way from the start." Kurogane frowned.

"It uses more fuel," Syaoran answered. "It's also more difficult to steer unless we're going in a straight line."

He went on to explain the workings of the car in greater detail, but words like "drive train" and "torque" didn't make a lot of sense when Kurogane didn't have a working model of the vehicle to tinker around with.

The landscape was much the same when they rolled out of the dry wash, and it was another stretch of time before they approached the next shallow valley. Sakura fidgeted in the back seat, squirming on occasion, a tiny crease between her brows. Fai had noticed, it seemed, because he was chattering nonstop to her, asking her question after question, complimenting her when it seemed as though she'd run out of words to say.

"Maybe we should all nap," he announced cheerfully.

Kurogane glanced at the pair through the rear view mirror. Were it any other situation, he would have snapped at Fai for lazing around. Right now, however, the princess's discomfort was showing in the firm press of her lips. He'd seen her attempting to soothe her itch discreetly (that was whenever Fai glanced deliberately out of the window), and true to Fai's prediction, her infection seemed only to get worse as the day dragged on.

"But I shouldn't sleep when we're all still traveling," the princess protested, bitten lips pulling into a pout.

"Nonsense," Fai chided gently. He reached over to her, gathered her in his arms. "We should all take turns to rest, don't you think? I'll even let you use my lap as a pillow."

It wasn't as if his bony legs were much good as a cushion, but Kurogane kept his opinions to himself. He watched as Sakura unbuckled her seat belt and yawned. Driving seemed to have that effect on passengers—he'd caught Syaoran nodding off into his seat, only for his head to bump noisily into the window. More often than not, the boy would wake up after, snuffling and looking blearily around.

Right now, Syaoran's chin was tucked into his chest, and he was kept upright by his seat belt. Mokona was curled up in his lap, snoring gently.

"I'll even sing you a song while you fall asleep," Fai said, waiting while the princess squirmed into a comfortable position. She had to have smiled at him, because his eyes were soft when he next looked up at Kurogane. "What about 'Star Light, Star Bright'?"

"I've never heard that one," she answered quietly.

"I'll sing that one, then. First, you have to close your eyes."

Kurogane looked between the wizard and the road he'd carved through the terrain, and something in his chest fluttered when Fai dipped his head and smiled at the princess.

_"Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight.  
I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."_

Fai's voice was soft around the edges when he sang, not unlike the times he'd hummed to Kurogane on those nights in Yama. This was a tune Kurogane had never heard, though. It might have been something from Fai's past.

_"Moon shine, stars divine, hearts of gold and tears of wine.  
Your thoughts are mine, our hearts aligned, close our fingers as they entwine."_

For a long moment, there was silence after Fai stopped singing. It wasn't a long lullaby, by any means, but it was pure and sweet and its melody stayed in Kurogane's ears even through the rumble of the car on rough dirt.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

"Sakura-chan's asleep," Fai said after a while. "She must have been uncomfortable."

Kurogane looked up to meet blue eyes in the mirror. "She's holding up well," he pointed out. "Kid's asleep too. So's the white thing."

The wizard glanced at the boy and smiled. His arm shifted; Kurogane guessed that he was stroking Sakura's hair. "It's good that they're bearing with this awful heat."

"You're the one coping worst," he retorted. Fai was still flushed. If it wasn't so dry here, the wizard would have been drenched in his own sweat a long time ago. "You need more water than you're drinking."

Fai blinked in surprise, amused smile playing on his lips. "I didn't think Kuro-sama was still looking."

"It's your responsibility to take care of yourself, idiot," Kurogane scoffed.

"And I don't need all that much water, really."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"I'm not sure where I should be looking. Do you?" Fai examined his outstretched arms. Kurogane rolled his eyes.

"Tch. Just drink that damn water, damn it. Your mouth is peeling." He huffed, shifted into a better position in his seat. Fai's song still lingered in his mind. There was something about it—its simplicity, and its words. Wishes. Fai wanted things, didn't he. He'd wanted someone to take him away. At least, that had been what he'd blabbed about in Outo. Kurogane wanted to think he was being honest then, but he hadn't known Fai as well as he did now. "Do you believe in wishes?"

Fai frowned. "Where did that come from?"

He shrugged. "You said you wanted someone to take you away."

The wizard blinked rapidly, forehead creasing. "That was... That was something from a long time ago."

"Do you still want to be taken away?" Kurogane watched the other closely, between steering the car around large rocks in their path.

"Does it matter?" Fai glanced off, and back down at the princess, thin lips pressed together. "It doesn't matter what I want."

"Does to me."

The wizard swallowed, licked his lips. "You're a silly man, Kuro-pon."

"Maybe. Where do you want to be taken?"

Fai twitched his shoulders. Something changed on his face then, as if he'd decided to humor Kurogane. The corners of his mouth quirked up. "Where would you take me?"

He hadn't the luxury to consider that question until now. Fai was always on the run, and he hadn't thought about the wizard willingly going anywhere with him. Kurogane remained quiet for a minute, leading them up the slope of the second wash, switching between wheels so the car handled their climb better. When they were on level ground again and the engine noise had died down, he answered. "Home."

He felt embarrassed, after that. It was as good as a confession.

The wizard blinked; his mouth fell open. He looked away. "Forget I asked."

Kurogane expected the twinge in his chest. And he shouldn't be saying this to a liar of a man, but. "You're worth it."

Fai's throat worked; he was blinking hard, and the laugh that emerged from his throat was strangled. "You don't know what you're saying."

"I know very well—"

"Shut up, Kuro-sama. Just shut up." Fai had his head turned entirely away now. He clawed at his seat belt, glanced at the doors, but there was nowhere he could run, not in this car.

Kurogane knew that the wizard would bolt from him the moment they stopped for a break. It was his fault, and it shouldn't make him angry, but it did. He kept messing up where Fai was concerned. "Look, damn it," he said, watching the idiot through the mirror. "I don't care about your past. I don't care if it hurts me."

"I will not hurt you," Fai hissed. His gaze snapped back, charged with angry heat. "I'm not who you think I am."

"I know enough about you," Kurogane shot back. His knuckles were white around the steering wheel. "If you let me—"

"Syaoran-kun," Fai all but shouted, and the boy jerked awake with a huge gasp, whipping his head around to gather his bearings. "Where should we go next?"

Kurogane glared at the nitwit through the mirror; Fai refused to meet his gaze.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

"Um." Syaoran leaned over to search for his map. It had slipped into the crevice between his seat and the door when he fell asleep. "I'm sorry. Um. Where are we?"

"Past the second wash." Kurogane reached over, jabbing a finger into paper. "About here."

"Oh. Um, let's see." The boy consulted his compass, looking out of the window like it would really help. "We should head for the third wash. Mokona-chan will tell us if it's any closer than that."

"Right." Kurogane scowled, kept on driving. The princess had stirred awake by now; Fai had pulled that unpleasant smile back on his face.

"How are you feeling, Sakura-chan?" the wizard asked, bending over her in concern. "Do you need a break outside the car?"

It was really so he could get out himself. Kurogane's suspicions were affirmed when the princess answered in the negative. "No, Fai-san. I'm fine."

Fai's shoulders fell. "But don't you need to stretch your legs? Breathe some fresh air?"

"Don't worry about me, really. I'm feeling better now." Sakura sat up, swiped her hair out of her face. "Why don't you nap yourself, Fai-san? Or Kurogane-san? Surely you need to rest—you've been driving for hours!"

"I'm fine," he said. Driving was draining and sitting in the same position made him stiff, but he wasn't going to admit to any of that. He was a ninja. He was better than this. "But you can hit the idiot on the head for me."

Sakura frowned at him. Fai's reply came late. "Driving so much makes Kuro-daddy grumpy. He should take a break. Go out and shout at animals or something."

He rolled his eyes. There was no way Fai was chasing him out of the car. Besides, the stabbing pain of cactus spines wasn't going to go away just by stretching his legs. He'd much rather they head on to the next world and be done with this place. "Tch. I can go on for longer."

They ended up staying in the car. When they crested the slope just before the third wash, Kurogane swore.

Past the jagged rock edge was a steep fall, roughly ten feet or so. Large stone boulders waited below, smooth and pale grey, with spiky shrubs jutting up around them. Kurogane scanned both sides of the cliff—it was all a sharp drop stretching both ways into the horizon, nothing sloping he could attempt to drive down from. Beyond that, the other edge of the wash was just as harsh—once they made it inside, they would be hard pressed trying to get out.

"Right or left?" he asked the boy. "Is there a way to get around this?"

"The wash appears to stretch across half the desert. We can't drive all the way around." Syaoran frowned at the map. He studied it for a few moments in the silent car while the turn signal clicked away, finally looking to his right. "We head that way. The wash broadens out to the east. Maybe the slopes will be gentler there."

Kurogane grunted an acknowledgement, backing the car away from the edge to steer them in that direction. It wouldn't help even if he were to carve a way down—there were plenty of boulders at the foot of the cliff, large enough that there was no way the car would be able to drive around them.

His passengers were quiet while he drove. Mokona had maintained that the feather was beyond this wash. Fai pursed his lips, looking sullenly out of the window. Sakura squirmed more, brow furrowed, and Syaoran peered along the wash for a path they could drive down.

When they finally found a slope, it was one that dipped steeply down into a small patch of shrub. Boulders stood around that patch, tall and imposing and something they'd crash into if they didn't stop in time. Kurogane had not thought he'd be glad to be driving over low bushes. On either side of the slope was steep, overhanging rock stretching on for miles. They'd been driving for half an hour; there wasn't much point in trying to search for an alternate path.

"I'm heading us down," he said. "Make sure you have your seat belts on."

It was a bumpy ride anyway. The vehicle tipped forward nauseatingly the moment he steered them off the cliff. The rocky slope yawned ahead of them, far below, and Kurogane stepped hard on the brakes so they wouldn't go into an uncontrolled dive. The car inched forward slowly, tipping sideways on one rock, then another. It felt as if everyone in the car was holding their breath.

Something under a wheel gave out. The car lurched a few feet forward; seat belts jerked. It didn't stop there—they were sliding forward on that momentum, stomachs dropping as Kurogane swerved them past a pointed boulder. There was no way he could prevent the car from stopping. Instead, he stepped on the gas pedal so the wheels turned, and used their momentum to better control the car.

He saw the protruding ledge too late. The car rolled onto that and tilted sharply sideways, so Syaoran was dangling over him, kept from tumbling onto Kurogane by his seat belt. Sakura yelped behind them. The car lurched; Kurogane swore, stamping down hard on the gas pedal. With a great growl, the car surged forward. It landed heavily on its other wheels, bounced once, and they rolled forward again, skidding down the rocky slope, rocks flying past them.

They crashed across low shrub at the bottom, bumping roughly over cacti and low stones alike. Kurogane grit his teeth, slammed his foot onto the brakes.

The car screeched to a stop inches from a boulder. They were hurled forward; the seat belts threw them back into their seats. Pain shot through Kurogane's foot from the lingering cactus spines, and he grimaced. He glanced around the car. "Anyone hurt?"

Syaoran shook his head; so did Sakura. Fai stretched his mouth into a thin smile. "We're all fine, Kuro-pi. Keep driving."

He rolled his eyes, let the car idle while he retrieved his bearings. Dust floated through the open windows. Kurogane backed them a short way up the slope so he could steer to the left, where there was a narrow gap between two boulders. He'd seen a way through the towering rocks when they were on higher ground. The rest of the wash was otherwise flat, with smaller rocks that would not prove as difficult to navigate through. All they had to do was get past the boulders.

Fai began talking to the kids again. He asked about the food in Shara this time, though it was mostly Syaoran who answered. Now that they weren't careening down a hill, Sakura seemed to remember her own discomfort; her eyes were dull, and there were lines around her mouth. She hadn't had a break since they'd fixed the flat tire.

Kurogane was familiar with the inconveniences that came with a woman's monthly bleeding. Tomoyo-hime required more toilet breaks when she bled; she said it helped keep infections and odors at bay. And they hadn't had an attack since this morning, when they'd had to scramble off the hill.

"Don't hold back just because you don't want to cause us trouble," he said over his shoulder. "I'll deal with those worms."

She blinked at him in surprise, gave a watery smile. Fai stared at them both. He opened his mouth, bit his lip. Kurogane waited all of two seconds before driving towards the boulders.

It was a tight squeeze. Wiry shrubs were mowed down in the face of their progress; Kurogane could spare no sympathy for them, princess or no. They'd gone a few feet in before the side view mirrors began scraping against smooth rock. He tucked his mirror against the door frame, bade the kid do the same on his side. The narrower width worked for all of a handful of turns, before they eased between two rock faces that ground against the fenders and the rock guard. Metal squeaked against boulder; the mirrors bent at the base and snapped off, clanging against the doors as they fell into the space just outside the car.

"We should keep those," Fai said. "Mirrors are worth a lot in some places."

"Tch. Could've said that before they broke." Kurogane frowned, looked out of the window. The mirror on his side had slipped through a gap in the boulder and fallen right next to his tire; it would be crushed once they drove through. "We'll just get more on another world."

"But what if we need them here?" the wizard protested. "For signaling, or reading something, or reflecting light somewhere."

"Why don't you get them, then," Kurogane shot back.

"I'm not thin enough to get out of the car, Kuro-pon. In case you haven't looked closely."

He hadn't any idea to how to respond to that. Kurogane turned away, studied the gap between the rock and the car door.

"Mokona can do it!" The white lump hopped onto Kurogane's shoulder. He felt a bit guilty for forgetting about her. Just this once, it seemed that she'd be good for something.

"That's right, Mokona is the only one of us who can," Fai cheered, his chipper tone vastly lighter than moments ago. "We're counting on you!"

"Thank you, Moko-chan," Sakura added, smiling for the first time in a long while.

They watched as she hopped out of the window and disappeared under the car for half a minute. When she emerged, it was from beneath the hood of the car. She bounced between the car and the boulder, perched on Fai's window, rubbing her belly. "Mokona has the two mirrors safely in storage."

"That's good! Thank you!" Fai gave the white thing a hug, handed her over to Sakura, who smiled again.

"Wait." Kurogane stopped the car, looked at the rest of his traveling group. "If the white thing can swallow this car, then we could've just descended the slope without any problems. Why the hell didn't we do that earlier?"

"Because it's too big for Mokona's storage," the white thing answered, ears drooping. "Everything Mokona stores goes into a room in Yuuko's shop, remember? There's things everywhere. If Mokona stores the car, lots of things will be smashed."

The turn signal clicked softly while they thought about it.

"Fine," Kurogane grumbled. All it meant was that they hadn't an easy way out of the wash.

The car squeezed between more boulders yet. In the time it took to ease through most of it, Fai had gone over Mokona's inventory. They hadn't much food there, and most of the fluids stored turned out to be alcohol or soda—not something they could rely on too much in the desert.

They rounded the next corner; Kurogane sighed with relief at the sight of green shrub and open valley. The car could do with far less damage at this point—it was badly scratched, and they had plenty of distance to go yet.

Except the last gap was narrower than he'd expected it to be.

The car hit the last two rocks and stopped, metal scraping against rock. There was no way he'd have them stop here, when they were so close to open land. Kurogane switched them to four-wheel drive, and had the car push its way forward.

Sparks flew; the metal fenders bent and buckled, and rock scraped past their doors, sending showers of sand into the car.

When they finally lurched past the rocks, everyone heaved a sigh. Kurogane had them picking up speed again, driving over uneven terrain that was far more tolerable, now that they'd bumped their heads on the windows and scratched their way between tight rocks. Mokona pointed them to the west again, towards where they'd been heading for before this detour.

A quick visual sweep revealed no slopes within sight. Kurogane wove them between larger rocks, cutting diagonally across the wash so they'd have a greater field of vision. He remembered seeing something resembling a slope on the way here.

They drove for a half hour or so, and by the time they closed in on where they'd initially been, there was still no way out in sight. He frowned. "I thought I saw a slope around here," he muttered.

Syaoran pursed his lips. "It could be a trick of the light, Kurogane-san. Uneven rocks tend to cast misleading shadows."

"I know that." It frustrated him to think he'd been deceived. For one, it messed with his estimates. They were running low on fuel; all they had was one extra tank of gas. Would it be enough to get them to the feather?

Wispy clouds stretched across the skies overhead. Kurogane glanced up, noted that the suns were drawing closer to the horizon. He hadn't realized that the days were shorter in this world; he'd been unconscious for a stretch the previous afternoon. The brakes squealed quietly when he pulled the car to a stop on a patch of empty ground. "We'll take a break here," he said. "No point trying to get up there without resting."

Fai was the first one out of the vehicle. Kurogane watched as the wizard made his excuses and slipped out, heading to the back so none of them could see the expression on his face. Syaoran folded the map and exited next, Mokona riding on his shoulder. When the princess didn't move, Kurogane turned to look at her. She was frowning, lips bitten red.

"Look, you need to pee," he said. "I learned about these things—the bleeding—from my princess. It's going to come back and bite you if you don't go."

Sakura shook her head. "Well, I haven't been drinking all that much," she admitted. "So I don't really need to."

He muttered a curse. "It's the desert, kid. You're just as bad as the idiot if you think you can get away with this."

Green eyes grew wide. "Fai-san— He hasn't been drinking water either?"

"No, he—" Kurogane paused, blinking. Could that be the reason why Fai was drinking less than his share? "That idiot," he breathed, turned to wrench his door open. He paused, gave the princess his most threatening stare. "Look, I can't make it hurt any less. But I don't want it to get worse for you. Just go and pee. I'll be right there if the worms come. Okay?"

He waited until Sakura gave him a reluctant nod, before barreling out of the car.

The wizard was nowhere in sight when he stepped out. Kurogane cursed him beneath his breath, stretched his senses out. If Fai wanted to hide behind some rocks, so be it. But he'd be damned if he didn't make sure the idiot wasn't suffering from some sort of sickness or other.

Kurogane stormed through the low shrub, rounding the set of boulders where Fai had tucked himself into. He didn't bother silencing his footsteps; Fai would have been able to sense his presence regardless. So, he stepped into the narrow space between two tall boulders, picked a path when he came to a fork, and found the wizard tucked into the shadow of a boulder, hooded face turned away.

Quietly, "I thought it's plenty clear that I want to be alone, Kuro-wan."

He stepped in close, sealing in the other's escape routes. He couldn't feel Fai's heat through the simmering air around himself. "This isn't about what you want," he growled. "You haven't been drinking enough. Or eating enough."

Fai chuckled. "We've talked about that."

"Tch. Are you sick?" He turned Fai around by the shoulder, slipped a palm beneath the thick fabric of his hood. Fai's forehead was warm. Then again, the temperatures here made it hard for him to use that as a gauge. Fai jerked his head away.

"I'm fine. Go away."

"I don't believe you. Idiot." He ignored Fai's mirthless huff, lifting the hood to look him in the face. Blue eyes glittered back at him. Fai's pupils weren't dilated, but his lips were red, and his cheeks were flushed.

"You need to stop caring so much—"

"Are you not drinking because it'll hurt to piss? Like the princess?"

Fai stared at him. Blinked several times. He laughed again, brittle and sad and vaguely amused. "You're an idiot, Kuro-rin. No. I don't have an infection."

But he still didn't want to believe the idiot, even though that face was honest. He reached down, found the narrow, bony jut of Fai's hip through his cloak, and followed the familiar dip down. He cupped Fai lightly between the legs, watching his face closely; Fai's nostrils flared.

It could have been a sign of pain or anticipation, but it wasn't enough to indicate either. He stroked a finger along limp flesh, pressing firmly down on it. Fai's throat worked; his tongue darted out to wet his lips, and his breath hitched. He turned away.

There had been no wince of pain, only the flickering of desire on that (cherished) face. Kurogane pulled back, heard the other's low whimper.

Fai had been speaking the truth. Kurogane almost regretted doubting him, but maybe he needed the reminder that Fai didn't lie when he looked like that, open eyes and sad smile. His chest hurt.

"Later," he promised again, heard the slow intake of breath beneath Fai's hood.

When he emerged from the cluster of boulders, the princess was just stepping out of the car. He waited until she'd found some privacy behind a thicket of taller bushes before approaching, stretching his senses out for the worms. None came.

It was strange. The wind picked up slightly, smelling like dust. Puzzled, Kurogane waited until she stood up and caught sight of him, relief in her eyes and a blush on her cheeks. He shrugged, waited for longer, and finally walked away to relieve himself.

When he returned to the car, Sakura, Syaoran and Mokona were gathered at the back where their supplies were, nibbling on some food. Kurogane accepted the roll of flatbread and meat that the princess handed him. "There weren't any worms," she said, forehead crinkled. Even so, she looked better than before; the lines around her mouth had eased. There was an almost-empty bottle of water between herself and Syaoran. "I don't know why they didn't attack."

"Did you sense anything?" Kurogane asked the boy. Syaoran shook his head, chewing on a mouthful of food. "I didn't either."

They stood around for a while, eating, until the princess broke the silence, turning to Kurogane. "Is Fai-san okay?"

He snorted. "Yeah, he is."

Sakura peered around him. "Should I prepare some food for him? He's always the one doing that for us."

Kurogane was about to tell her that the idiot could do that on his own, when he realized that whatever the princess made would have more food in it than Fai fed himself. He couldn't help but smirk at that. "Yeah. Fill one up. He'll be happy if you handed it to him yourself."

She brightened; he watched as she layered meat and fruit so thickly onto the flatbread that she had trouble rolling it up. Syaoran pressed close to hold his hands beneath the roll, to catch any stray bits of food that fell.

Kurogane had walked off and was practicing his kata when Fai finally stepped out from the cluster of boulders. The wizard picked his way over to the kids, bright smile on his face. Kurogane kept his back to them.

"Fai-san! We were worried about you."

"Oh! Well, I had some things to see to." A short laugh. (Kurogane rolled his eyes.)

"Syaoran-kun, Moko-chan and I made this for you. Won't you eat it?"

Silence. "Oh. You didn't really have to, all of you."

"Do you like it? Um, I'm sorry if it's too dry. Here, some water—"

"Thank you, Sakura-chan. This is too much for me, you know."

Disappointedly, "oh."

"No, don't be sorry!" Fai's voice grew a little strained. "I'll finish it all. I promise."

"Really?"

"Mhmm. I really like it. Won't you have more?"

"We've already eaten. Kurogane-san as well."

He felt their stares on his back then, and imagined Fai's annoyance at having been bested. Kurogane grinned. There wasn't anyone to see him from this angle, anyway.

The kids talked with Fai for longer. It had been roughly half an hour since they'd stopped for a break, and more clouds were drifting over the desert, thicker and lower than before. The two suns inched towards the horizon, chased away by a deeper blue on the far edge of the sky. Kurogane sheathed his sword when he was done.

"I thought there's no water in a desert," he said to the kids, who were sitting sideways in their seats, feet dangling past the dusty rock guard. "But it looks like rain."

Syaoran shrugged. "Clouds come and go," he explained. "They don't always rain though."

"But sunsets with clouds are the prettiest. They turn really red right as the sun goes down," Sakura added, her eyes bright with excitement. "I hope these stay for the sunset."

He glanced up at the clouds again. Nihon had plenty of cloudy skies—they clouded over the sunset sometimes, but when they didn't, the entire heavens turned a warm pinkish-orange. He'd seen his fill of red-streaked sunsets. "Let's go. We'll stop for sunset."

It was easy enough to herd the kids into the car. Fai, not so much. He found the wizard tucked behind another rock, painstakingly etching his way through another spell.

Fai looked up from his notebook when Kurogane stopped a few yards away from him. "If it isn't Big Doggy come to bark at me again."

"We're making a move. Come on."

The wizard heaved a sigh and stood, tucked his notebook back into his robes. They were cast in the shadow of the cliff now; the suns were low enough that half the wash was covered in bluish shadow. Fai's hair stirred lightly in the breeze. "Kuro-wan is bossy."

"And you're an idiot." He huffed, turned to walk away. When he sensed Fai trailing behind him, he turned and asked, "why haven't you got a weapon on you?"

The idiot blinked at him. "Why should I?"

"Because then you can fight without using your magic, you idiot. Tch."

"But Kuro-rin is the one who fights. He needs more ninja training."

Kurogane frowned at him. "Don't be stupid. You saw how the worms were yesterday. You were involved."

"And your sword wasn't very good against them, was it?"

"Doesn't mean you can't try."

Fai shrugged, looked away. "You're the grumbling, fighting one. Don't push that responsibility onto me, Kuro-daddy."

He rolled his eyes. "You're blind if you think you aren't responsible for the kids. I've seen the way you try to protect them."

"Only when you fail to."

Kurogane shut his mouth, glared. He was saved from having to answer when they approached the car; the kids were waiting for them inside. Fai flounced into his seat and slammed the door.

He sighed, climbed into the car. At the least, Kurogane hoped to talk to the witch tonight, about a charm for Fai. The idiot seemed to need all the protection he could get.

As it turned out, things tended to fall short of where he'd pegged his hopes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is out of character or anything, please tell me!


	6. A Long Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! Apologies for the long wait! Are you guys still reading this?! :) I'm also sorry for any typos you might spot.. I was falling asleep as I was editing this. It might be jet lag. :(
> 
>  **I think this chapter's rating is more like an M**? just so you know.

They were forced to make camp soon after sunset. Without a full moon to illuminate the land, it was difficult to locate a decent slope on the other edge of the dry wash, and Kurogane wasn't about to attempt a climb with the car in these conditions. So, he'd cleared a large circle from a patch of low shrub, and the kids had built a campfire in the middle of it. The murky yellow fire danced in its stone circle, fed conscientiously by the princess while Syaoran gathered more twigs for firewood.

Kurogane sat by the fire with the princess, cleaning Souhi with slow, rhythmic strokes of his polishing rag. "You ever thought about learning to fight?" he asked, studying her from the corner of his eye.

Sakura blinked up at him, features aglow with yellow light. "Sometimes," she admitted with a downward glance. "It feels like I'm in the way when you, Fai-san and Syaoran-kun have to fight to protect me."

"Don't get me wrong. I don't mean it's a pain to keep you safe," he muttered, looking to the side, where Fai was barely visible behind another boulder. From this angle, only wispy gold hair and the pages of a notebook were visible, propped on a cloaked knee. "Just that I think you'd be safer if you knew how to defend yourself. Can't keep relying on that luck of yours."

She nodded earnestly. "Will you teach me?"

"I've been talking about that with the mage," he answered. At least, whenever Fai had been in a decent enough mood to discuss the princess. "He's right though. It'll be easier if you learned his style of fighting. Especially since he doesn't rely on as much strength." At her nod, he continued, "learning to fight isn't just about the fighting. It's about honor codes. Ninja don't fight the unarmed. We don't abuse our abilities to stab allies in the back or harm the innocent."

"You were protecting your princess, weren't you?" she asked quietly, green eyes glimmering in the firelight.

He looked down at his sword—long and lethal, but a different one from what he'd started out with all the same. There was no replicating Ginryuu, with the charms worked into it from countless generations of his father's bloodline. "Yeah."

"I'm sure she was lucky to have you," the princess said. "You've been helping us all this way."

Not for the first time, he noticed that Sakura had the same eyes Tomoyo did. They had kind eyes, green and grey both, that reminded him of the way his mother had looked at him. It helped soothe the sting of Tomoyo's goodbye, and all his grievances about the seal on his forehead. Kurogane swallowed. "She— She sent me away."

"And you have been protecting me ever since. Thank you." Sakura laid her firewood to a side, reached over to cover Kurogane's hand with her smaller one. She was tiny, thin and fragile, and Kurogane was reluctant to hurt her in teaching her to fight. The bruise on her cheek had turned a dull yellow-green now, and the spots on it were vaguely visible.

He wasn't surprised by the calm in his chest when he looked at her. She was almost as important to him as Tomoyo. "I swore fealty to Tomoyo. I can't—"

"That's fine." She smiled at him, curled her fingers into his palm. "You're a cherished friend, Kurogane-san. I'm glad to be traveling with you."

He gave a short bark of laughter then. "You were born to be a princess," he said. "Diplomatic. Good. Kind."

(Sort of like Fai.)

Sakura smiled. Kurogane let his own grin linger, turned his hand so he held her fingers with his thumb. Being loyal to Tomoyo didn't mean he couldn't protect someone else at the same time.

"Princess," he murmured, lifting her hand and pressing warm fingers to his forehead. He had to bend at the waist to do so, instead of dipping his head, but that was fine. It was the same token of loyalty he'd given to the Tomoyo of Yama.

When he released her hand, Sakura got to her knees, leaned in, and kissed his forehead. "Thank you," she whispered.

He nodded, turned away for sheer lack of words to say. She settled back down next to him, feeding more wood into the fire. Smoke puffed into the cloudy sky above.

"What should I do first? To learn to fight," Sakura said a moment later. "Syaoran-kun said you tested his reflexes on a stream."

He smiled wryly. "Like I said, the first step of learning to fight is knowing the honor code behind it. We don't hurt the innocent."

"Do you and Fai-san share the same code?"

It was a simple question, and Kurogane realized that he did not know what Fai had been taught. He knew Fai enough, though, through their countless days of fighting in Yama, that Fai wasn't one to kill if he didn't have to. "Probably," he said. "What he does is mostly dodging. You'll have to get your reflexes up to speed. Your body needs to be able to keep up."

She nodded.

"You'll do the kata with me," he decided, reaching over her crossed legs to pull a straighter branch from the firewood pile. He snapped off the twigs along it, and fished a small dagger out to whittle the bark off one end of the branch. When that was done, he handed it to her, showing her how to grip the makeshift handle. "Whenever the kid does his exercises, you'll do them along with him."

"Fai-san doesn't practice like you do," she pointed out, gripping the branch with her fingers, turning it this way and that.

Kurogane shrugged. He got to his feet, flicked his gaze over to where Fai still sat. The blond hair had disappeared from sight now, and so had the notebook, but Kurogane spotted his shoes peeking out behind some shrubs. He was willing to bet that the wizard had heard their entire exchange. If Fai had nothing to say against it, then he'd start with the training now. It wasn't as if they had much else to do before the kids went to sleep. "Stand up. I'll show you some of the basic kata."

He drew Souhi and used it to demonstrate the first three kata. Sakura followed in his footsteps; he corrected her stances and the way she held the branch.

"It might not end up helping with the mage's technique," he said, "but it'll give you a sense of how to move. Either way, you need the muscle memory to react quickly in dangerous situations."

She nodded. When Syaoran returned to deposit more firewood, he got the kid to take over the princess's training. Kurogane watched as the boy and his princess practiced the kata together, Sakura with her branch and Syaoran with Hien. More often than not, Syaoran had to correct the way the girl stood, or the way she held her makeshift sword, but it helped reinforce what he knew of sword-fighting.

Halfway through, Kurogane had Mokona withdraw a long dagger from storage. It wasn't as heavy as his long sword or Syaoran's, but it did have a heft that the princess had to get used to.

The princess took well to the new weapon. She eyed it warily, without fear or calculation. Kurogane had known that she was someone he'd be proud to teach, but seeing the determined set of her jaw helped him realize just how much he wanted her to succeed with her training.

There were still no worms approaching by the time they got ready to retire for the night. Fai emerged from hiding and ushered the kids into the car to sleep, and Kurogane waited by the fire for him.

"I approve of the dagger," Fai said as he settled into the dirt next to Kurogane, watching ribbons of fire flicker before them. "Lightweight. Easy to transport. I don't really peg Sakura-chan as the sort to get bloody—"

"She will if she has to," Kurogane pointed out.

The wizard frowned at him. "But she's a princess, Kuro-pon."

"All royalty will get bloody if they have to." Kurogane looked pointedly at him; Fai glanced away, expression closed. "Tomoyo wounded me once." He held his left hand out, palm open so yellow firelight lit the vertical scar in its middle. It caught Fai's attention. "Was probably the only way to stop me then."

Fai opened his mouth, closed it. He wanted to ask about that scar, but he was caught between knowing and staying away. Kurogane could tell. So, he volunteered the information.

"My parents were murdered. I went on a rampage. The princess was late coming."

"Oh." The wizard's eyes clouded over; he blinked and turned his gaze away.

"Just saying that princesses can and will draw blood if they have to. And there's a way out of the darkness." Because Fai did have that haunted look sometimes, the one that Kurogane had seen on himself a long time ago. He didn't think he was anywhere close to helping Fai out of his past, but. He could try. "And you can teach the princess the dirty tricks. I can't do that for her."

Fai breathed a laugh then. It broke the heavy tension that had settled between them, turned it into something lighter. "What makes you think I know dirty moves, Kuro-tan?"

He snorted. "Of course you do. A person with your experience can't not know how to fight like that."

"You're very experienced yourself, Kuro-wan." Fai raised his eyebrows, looked at him from beneath his lashes.

It felt as if they weren't talking about fighting anymore.

"Tch." He focused on shoving more twigs into the fire. "Whatever it is, you're better at evading than I am. The princess can be flexible. She just needs to practice that too."

Fai hummed. He reached across Kurogane and picked up a twig, prodding at the fire so yellow sparks floated into the air. "I can see her evading a lot. She's small. It'll be easy for her to turn speed to her advantage. Can you imagine? Sakura-chan as an offensive type. Fast and lethal."

Kurogane grinned. "Now we're talking."

The wizard drew a sharp breath, glanced quickly away. When it didn't seem like he was going to answer, Kurogane shrugged.

"Didn't think you'd save her brother and his friend. Or their other selves. You know, back in Shura." He didn't really know where he was going with this, only that he wanted Fai to know he saw. It hadn't occurred to him to save anyone beyond Syaoran and Fai back there.

Fai shrugged, poked the charred remains of his stick into the ground, where it crumbled. "They're important to Sakura-chan." More quietly, "imagine if they died there. She'd be devastated."

"Yeah. Hey." Kurogane glanced toward the car, where the princess and the kid seemed to have fallen asleep. It was quiet. "Still need the fire?"

Fai blinked at him. He seemed to understand Kurogane's offer then, licking his lips and looking away. "Not right now, no."

Kurogane rolled onto his knees to empty a bowl of sand onto the fire. Fai helped. There was a bowl by his side, too. The fire went out with a quiet sputter, plunging them into near-complete darkness. Fai sank back onto his heels, bowl thudding next to his thigh.

He began to murmur, "we should—"

Kurogane leaned over and kissed him. It hadn't been all that long since their last night in Yama, really, but between Shura and Shara and this new world, Kurogane wanted very much to touch. He'd been thinking about this since the previous night; it felt like an awfully long time since then.

Fai fell silent, opened his mouth to him, hands coming up to grasp the front of his cloak. The kiss was surprisingly comforting. It was all lips at first, seeking and giving, until Fai slipped a hand into the folds of Kurogane's cloak, dragged nails down his chest.

They landed with a thump into soft sand, Fai dragging him down, mouth open and inviting, and Kurogane had to stifle his groan. Fai's mouth was wet and soft, like other things, and the slow slide of a thin hand down between his legs didn't help. He rocked into Fai's palm, shifted his weight onto one arm so he could return the favor.

It hadn't taken either of them much time to grow hard. He brushed his knuckles over the bulge in Fai's pants, heard the other's breath hitch. The kiss turned heavy, damp breaths puffing, and his fingers slid hungrily along Fai's erection, stroking it firmly so Fai's hips surged up, needing more. He whimpered breathlessly; Kurogane silenced him, fumbled with the buttons of his pants.

This wasn't the best place to do this, not when the car was so close, but he was reluctant to stop right now, when Fai's cock was sliding wetly against his palm. His own pulse throbbed in his pants; Fai's fingers were scrabbling at him, needing to hold on to something.

The wind picked up around them then, lightly at first. Kurogane ignored it, dipping into Fai's mouth and stroking him. Fai's breathing was broken, like he was trying to catch his breath but he couldn't, and he writhed under Kurogane, clawing at him, tight little moans sounding from his throat.

He pulled back slightly, heart pounding, half-thinking of relocating further down when the wind turned into a gale. Sand blew into their faces, into their eyes and mouths and pants, and Kurogane swore, pulling away. His eyes stung.

Sand came at them from all directions. He didn't know where it was blowing from, but the soft ground beneath them was turning into flying, stinging needles with every gust of wind. He sat up, shielding his eyes from the assault, felt the wizard splutter and do the same.

It was difficult to even breathe. There was sand up his nose and in his throat, annoying prickles of pain on vulnerable skin. Kurogane reached blindly for the wizard, pulling his hood over his head. "Car," he yelled over the wind, got a mouthful of sand for his efforts.

Where his hand had been sticky before, it was now covered in sand. He growled, hitched his pants up, hauled Fai to his feet. The wizard stumbled, one hand holding on to his pants. Kurogane kept his mouth tightly shut, waited for Fai to get himself decent, before grabbing his elbow and dragging him back to the car. Damn it. He'd promised the idiot, too.

He wrenched one of the doors open and shoved Fai in, waiting until the idiot had pulled his legs up before slamming it. It didn't take long for him to throw himself through the other door. The kids exclaimed at their appearance; the wind howled through the window on his side, sending sprays of sand into the car. Fai leaned over him to roll his window up.

"The hell was that?" he asked between bouts of coughing, blinking hard and trying to spit the gritty sand from his mouth and throat. The overhead light had come on in the car, but his eyes were tearing up too much for him to see a thing.

"Sandstorm. I'm sorry we didn't wake up until it was on us in full force," Syaoran answered apologetically. Both his seat and Sakura's had been drawn upright, and the princess was peering between their headrests at them.

"Are you okay, Fai-san, Kurogane-san?"

"Yeah." He was about as fine as being kicked in the gut, but it wasn't like this was new. Kurogane breathed a frustrated sigh, huffing breath after breath in an attempt to get the sand out of his throat. Having Fai all but sprawled over his lap right now was a rude reminder of what they'd been in the middle of. At least Fai was in the same situation he was. He was still hard, and there was sand in his pants.

The howling from outside cut off the moment his window was entirely rolled up. Fai leaned back into his corner of the backseat, working his tongue distastefully around in his mouth. He wasn't looking at Kurogane. "I think we'll be fine," he said, voice rough. "Do you have some water?"

Syaoran shoved a bottle of water at them. Fai took the first mouthful and handed it over to Kurogane, who did the same. It seemed a waste to spit water out in the desert, but he would much rather not swallow a mouthful of dirt. Instead, Kurogane emptied his mouth onto a clean patch of his cloak, and used that to wipe his face. There were still bits of sand in his mouth.

Fai swallowed his mouthful of water with a wince. "Well. That was an experience," he said in an attempt to be cheerful, looking towards the kids. "How long will the storm last for?"

The boy grimaced. "Anything from a few minutes to hours."

Outside, the wind whistled and threw bits of sand at their windows. It was completely black out, and they couldn't see past a few inches into the darkness. The light in the car flickered off after about a minute; Kurogane saw the way Fai shifted in his seat. He sighed, tipped his head back. It wasn't as if they could pick up where they left off. Fai brought his legs up, pressed his lips together.

Fai knew that the kids couldn't see in the dark. He wouldn't look like that otherwise.

After a while, the wizard tried on another smile. "We should be safe in here, shouldn't we?" he chirped. "Just for tonight, we'll try sleeping like this. It'll be safer, anyway."

The kids chorused an affirmation. Kurogane ran a hand through his hair, found it riddled with sand. Fai began talking about the storms they'd narrowly avoided in the other worlds, about dodging from angry crowds and animals and things.

Kurogane closed his eyes, breathed slow and deep, drawing himself into a doze. If there was something they needed him for, Fai would wake him.

* * *

The winds had died down by the time he woke. Kurogane looked through the window on his side, saw the shrub-covered landscape of the wash. A sheen of water glittered at the base of the shrubs, rippling and reflecting scant moonlight. He frowned. It looked peaceful out, though he hadn't heard any rain falling while he dozed. Hadn't the kid said that washes would flood? Perhaps they should have moved from this place, but the water level seemed hardly dangerous, and it wasn't rising. Kurogane glanced around the landscape, could see no sign of rain, only the scattered shapes of clouds in the sky.

In the front seats of the car, the kids and Mokona were breathing slow and deep, seats lowered partway back so they could sleep at a more comfortable angle. Fai was probably the one who told them to do that. He looked over at the wizard. Fai was still curled up in his seat, though he wasn't asleep. He turned his head when Kurogane moved; a brief acknowledgement. If the kids were asleep, maybe—

"Hey," he said clearing his throat so his voice came out easier. "It rained?"

Fai shook his head. The windows were dry. "The water just flowed through. There wasn't much of it, and the children were asleep, so I didn't think it was important enough to wake you."

"Huh." Kurogane moved to find a more comfortable spot on the hard seat, rolling his stiff shoulders. Something rattled behind him. He frowned, turned to look at the stacks of boxes behind the back seat. There was more than one presence there. "Do you sense that?"

Fai blinked at him, and his eyes sharpened. "Yes."

They were worms. Small ones. They were somewhere behind the backseat. It was enough to make his stomach turn. "Why didn't you sense them earlier?" Kurogane hissed.

The wizard frowned and looked away. "My thoughts were elsewhere."

But how had the worms appeared in the boxes?

He thought about the last time they'd seen the worms, remembered the splatter of gore across the windshield and down beneath the belly of the car. Kurogane swore, gripped his sword. He couldn't possibly use any of his attacks right now. "We need to kill these. Come on."

Kurogane opened the door quietly, headed around to the back of the car. The worms were buried deep in their supplies. He swung the door to the trunk open, lifted up the back window. The other passenger door opened and shut then, and Fai splashed through the water to join him.

"What do you propose we do?" the wizard asked.

He rolled his eyes. "You're the expert on these. You tell me."

Kurogane pulled the clean boxes out first, the ones that did not contain worms. There were only a couple of these, containing dried rations and bottles of water. He handed them to Fai, who slid them onto the hard plastic top of the car. The water and fuel drums were the next to go onto the roof. These, Kurogane hefted up himself.

He paused when he got to the last four cardboard boxes. They had been full of food supplies for the journey, but when he tried sensing their contents now, he could only detect the presence of worms. He exchanged a look with Fai; the wizard's expression was grim. "Shit," he muttered.

"Let's get them out, Kuro-pon," Fai said.

Kurogane tossed the cardboard boxes onto the flooded campground behind the car, clicked the door shut. A cloud of dense whitish vapor billowed out when he gingerly pried the first box open, almost hitting him in the face. He rocked back and held his breath, waited for the fumes to dissipate.

When he looked inside, all he saw were soaked, empty food wrappers and splatters of ichor around the insides of the box. The worms in there were dead.

Puzzled, he headed to the next box, dodging the dense vapors. This second box had some flatbread and fruit remaining, mostly chewed through. There was something alive in this one. He kicked the box to shake its contents up, drew his sword.

To his surprise, there was a little splash. Something exploded with a tiny _pop_. Ichor splattered out of the box, and there was no more living presence within.

"Strange," Fai murmured behind him. "Don't touch the last two, Kuro-sama. I have theories I want to test."

He snorted, but stepped back to let the wizard handle the other boxes. When Fai pried the third lid open, a small puff of vapor seeped out. Kurogane still sensed worms, however. He watched as the wizard snapped off a branch from a nearby plant, pushing it into the box.

"Here, I see a worm. It's not attacking." Fai prodded and poked, and then there was another _pop_ , followed by a splatter of more gory fluids. Fai jerked away from the box. Kurogane frowned. Was there a way to kill these things? He watched as Fai jabbed again, and moved things around the box with a rattle. There was another _pop_ , followed by another, and another. "Ha," Fai breathed. "I think I know how they die."

Kurogane approached the fourth box warily, waited for the wizard to ease its flaps open. There were three worms in here. Fai used his stick to flip away pieces of flatbread, until he exposed the first one. It was chewing greedily away, sharp teeth tearing into bread. Kurogane felt sick to his stomach.

Fai nudged at the worm so it rolled off, into the pool of water that had seeped up through the base of the cardboard. Two seconds ticked by.

 _Pop!_ The worm burst, sending ichor splattering and a cloud of vapor rising into the air.

"What."

"Mhmm. Looks like they can't be submerged in water." Fai riffled through the remaining food with his branch, unearthing the other two worms. Kurogane saw the way they rolled into the water, shuddered and swelled and exploded, covering the sides of the cardboard box with their innards.

"That's disgusting," he said. "And we're short of food."

"Unfortunately, yes." Fai poked around the ichor-stained remnants of their supplies, slanted a somber glance at him. "Would you eat this?"

Kurogane made a face. "Are you kidding? No. I'd rather hunt for food."

"You'll be the one hunting, then."

"Are you going to eat it?" Fai shook his head. "Then you should help."

"I can go without."

"Tch. You're eating, damn it." He rolled his eyes, followed as Fai made his way back to the car. The idiot did not answer. "So the other worms fled because of the flood. They sensed the water."

"That's what I'm guessing, yes." Fai began to move the boxes of food back into the car, taking care to set them down quietly. "The worms can't stand to absorb all this water. They'd burst. So they left. That's why Sakura-chan wasn't attacked earlier today."

"But they bit my leg." Kurogane glanced down at where his robes were growing dark with floodwater. "Blood doesn't kill them."

Fai shrugged. "It appears to be pure water that does it."

"Good to know." It wasn't as if they could carry around large quantities of water, but if there was rain, they would be safe from the worms. "You're not starving yourself, just so you know."

The wizard raised his eyebrows. "Kuro-rin is determined to shove food down my throat, is he?"

Kurogane glared. "I will if it comes down to that, yes."

Fai shrugged, turned to open the car door. Kurogane caught his arm.

"Hey," he said, when Fai looked back at him in question. "Do you have more birds? For your magic."

The wizard looked away, gaze downcast. "You should stop caring, Kuro-pon," he said quietly. "Seriously. We aren't in Yama anymore. We're not playing House with each other."

He dragged Fai nearer so the idiot stumbled a little, splashing water onto their robes. Kurogane brought his mouth close to his ear, so close he could smell the dried sweat and sand in his hair. "Maybe it's a game to you, idiot. It never was one to me."

Fai wasn't smiling when Kurogane released him. He didn't move, either. Kurogane stalked away, pausing to brush his robe open and unzip his pants.

"Peeing here, Kuro-tan?" Fai's voice wasn't back to that awful lilt, but it was filled with amusement all the same. "It'll go everywhere in this flood. That's very unpleasant. You don't want the children stepping in it."

"No," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm getting the sand out of my pants."

It had been uncomfortable sleeping in it, and he'd be damned if he had sand going up where it shouldn't. Kurogane brushed the sand off, looked over his shoulder, where Fai was still watching him.

"I'll bet you aren't feeling that great with all that sand, either. 'Specially if it goes up your ass crack."

Fai grimaced. "How rude."

"Is it?" Kurogane brushed his hands off, zipped his pants back up. "Tell me you'd rather scratch while you're making food for the kids."

The wizard stared at him, horrified. "That's just unsanitary, Kuro-rinta. I would never do that. How could you even suggest such a thing?"

"Then tell me you aren't itching." Fai had been wet, and wet and sand did not go well together.

"I refuse." But there was a pinched look about his face, now that his thoughts had gone in that direction. Kurogane snorted.

"Or do you want me to—"

Fai had curled his hands into his robes, holding them by his sides. "No! No. This is none of your business. Stop looking, Kuro-ron!"

He watched, amused, as Fai splashed his way to the front of the car and hunched over to see to himself. Kurogane returned to his side of the backseat, looking up in an attempt to glimpse the stars. There had been plenty out the night before, like a glittering blanket of speckles. Tonight, though, there were clouds, and they had only grown thicker and lower since he woke.

"Hey," he said, hand on the door handle. "It smells like rain, doesn't it?"

Fai glanced back at him, nostrils flared as he took a deep breath. Unease spread through his face. He looked up at the sky and along the wash, where the flood had probably come from earlier. There was no mistaking the heaviness in the air, the dusty wet scent that wasn't there before. It was a smell that they'd experienced through many worlds, and the farmers of Nihon celebrated its presence. "We should get out of here."

Kurogane pulled the door open and stuck his head in. "Wake up," he told the kids. "It's gonna rain."

They stirred. By the time Fai got to the driver's side door, he was back to wearing a calm mask, friendly and cheerful and helping Syaoran into the backseat as if there wasn't a flood hanging over their heads. "Kuro-rin needs to drive," he told the boy. "Sakura-chan, you can stay there if you want, but put your seat belt on!"

Kurogane busied himself with securing their remaining supplies. It didn't take long for Syaoran to see the ankle-deep flood around them, and the low clouds above. Kurogane didn't bother giving the kids reassurances, not when he didn't know how things were going to turn out.

The tension in the car had mounted by the time they were all strapped in. Kurogane started the engine, switched the headlights on. The car came with a brighter set of headlights; they did not illuminate very much further ahead, however. Shadows lingered on the opposite side of the wash, so it looked as though there were slopes to exit everywhere. Kurogane knew better, knew their surest chance of getting out was to fly, but Fai wasn't going to help with that.

The car kicked up water and sand when he gunned the engine. Driving with power behind all four wheels helped only so much; he was forced to slow down when they bounced roughly over the low brush beyond their campgrounds, hard seats sending nasty jolts into their tailbones.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

Next to him, Sakura peered out of her open window. He would have preferred Fai to be by his side in this situation—the wizard's magic was more far-reaching than anything he or the princess could do—but Fai had tucked himself behind Kurogane, looking warily out at the first fat droplets of rain falling outside.

It wasn't easy to see dips in the ground, not when they were hidden beneath a smooth mirror of water. Kurogane cursed each time they hit a rough bump, edging them ever closer to the wash in case there was a slope they could take out of this place. Lightning lit the low clouds from within.

It reminded him of that first week in Yama, when Fai had stripped and bathed in the rain, a thin, beautiful silhouette against purple-lit sky. Back then, they hadn't been faced with the very real possibility of being washed away by floodwaters.

"There was a flood in Yama when Kuro-rin and I were there," Fai said, as if hearing his thoughts. Kurogane felt a smile twitch his lips. At Sakura's pleas for him to tell more, Fai continued. "It rained for two days straight. We had to pack up and move the camp further uphill. Even the forest was flooded."

It wasn't the whole truth, but that was fine. What happened there was between him and Fai alone.

Rain began to fall harder, dense vertical lines in the polygon of their headlights. Kurogane set the windshield wipers going, scanned the land up ahead. There were going to be repercussions if they didn't decide on something, and soon. The water level around them was already starting to rise. "Hey—"

"The rain was so cold, and Kuro-wan shoved these horrid sour things in my mouth—"

"We need to find a way out," Syaoran cut in urgently. "This will flood."

Fai shut up. Kurogane huffed. "What's the next best option?" he asked.

"If we get caught in the flood, we need to anchor ourselves to something. Like some boulders that won't get washed away," the boy answered from the back. "Huge ones."

He frowned and peered through the rain, sweeping his gaze across the wash. The boulders around them were either too small or too far apart, nothing that would help hold the car down against a massive flow of water. Kurogane muttered a curse, revved the engine to turn them back to where he'd seen a cluster of boulders like the ones they'd woven through to get into the wash.

"Hurry, Kuro-pon!" Fai said, patting his shoulder.

"I know that," he snapped back.

The kid had warned about flash floods, water that gushed over the land like a dam had shattered. They didn't know how long ago the rain had started. Kurogane jerked the steering wheel so they swerved around protruding rocks in the ground, blinked away the rainwater that had begun falling sideways into the car. He couldn't close the window—he needed it to look out, and rain-streaked glass would only hamper his vision.

The windshield wipers slid back and forth, wiping water droplets away, only for more to take their place. Visibility was going down fast; they were still a quarter mile or so away from a decent cluster of boulders, and it felt like there wasn't enough time.

_Tick, tick, tick, tick._

"There's a wave coming," Syaoran cried.

Kurogane swore, glanced over his shoulder. He saw the vague shape of a foamy crest in the distance, like wild horses charging them down. "Hang on," he shouted, stepped hard on the gas.

The car jerked forward. They bounced roughly over the low brush. Mokona flew out of the princess's hands, ricocheted around in the car with a wail. They tilted this way and that; someone banged their head against a head rest, and Kurogane grit his teeth, coaxing the car ever forward.

The wave front was closing in, faster than they could move. They were still a hundred yards away from the boulders, and Kurogane could not risk going any faster. They would have to stop before they crashed.

They heard the roar of water before it hit. When it did, they were still a handful of yards away; Kurogane jammed his aching foot on the brakes, swerved the car sideways so they didn't crash head-first into solid rock.

Frothing, muddy water slammed into the side of the car, tipping them sideways. Kurogane's stomach lurched. Water cascaded in through the windows, poured over their laps and splashed at their faces, gushing out through the other side. Except the other side of the car was tilted into the roiling water beneath, and Sakura was scrabbling at her seat belt, leaning up towards Kurogane, her face inches from swirling water.

Scarcely had he unbuckled her seat belt and yanked her up towards him when the second wave came down upon them, smashing over their heads and flooding the entire car with cold, icy water. It knocked the breath out of his lungs. Kurogane stretched out with his senses, eyes screwed shut—

Mokona's magical signature slipped out through the windows, sailing as certainly as the water took her away.

"Mage," he yelled, grabbing at his belt buckle.

"I can't," Fai gasped behind him. Water splashed. "She's going too fast. I can't— I— I lost her."

"We need to get that thing back," he snapped, securing one foot on the side of the dripping center console and one hand on the door handle to keep his balance the moment his seat belt snapped off. "Princess."

"I'm fine," Sakura said shakily, shivering hard in his grasp. "I'm worried about Moko-chan."

A quick glance to the back showed the kid drenched but otherwise leaning on Fai, his face the very picture of regret. "I'm sorry. I was the one who failed to catch her in time—"

"It's done. Tch. Save it." Kurogane threw his weight against the door. It wasn't enough to tip the vehicle back onto its other wheels. Rain pattered onto his face. "The white thing doesn't get hurt, right? Since she's magic?"

"As far as I know, she'll be fine," Fai said, his tone filled with forced cheer. "All we have to do is—"

His next words were lilting and familiar and complete gibberish. Kurogane sighed heavily. This had to happen, didn't it, with them losing food and caught in the middle of a flood. "I don't understand you, idiot."

It was quiet in the car, save for the tinkling of rain on metal doors. Fai heaved an identical sigh. "Idiot," he said in that accent of his.

"We need to get the car straightened out first." Kurogane turned the ignition off—no point having the vehicle run when they weren't going anywhere in this flood.

Another wave crashed through the windows right as Sakura tried to find her footing on the center console. Kurogane grabbed her around the waist, hanging on tight while icy water sluiced around them. The moment the wave passed, Kurogane shook water out of his eyes, surveyed the car again—the water level was higher, now. They couldn't keep hanging on in limbo like this. Even if the car were level, it wouldn't be safe for Fai and the kids to be stuck in it.

"Follow me," he said to the princess, beckoning at her. When she nodded, he opened his door, swung himself up onto the side of the car. "We're going up."

From this vantage point, he could see some distance out across the wash. The entire valley was swamped. Only boulders stood above the choppy surface of the water, and rain fell in sheets around them. The clouds were low and heavy, but the lightning had gone.

"Kuro-pai?" Fai frowned up at him through his window, looking between him and the princess.

"Up." Kurgane jerked his chin at the roof, reaching out for the princess. Sakura grabbed on, tiny hand in his, and slowly pulled herself out of the door. She yelped when her foot slipped on the hard seat, splashing into murky water. Kurogane braced his shoulder against the top of the door frame, wrapped an arm around her and pulled her out, holding her securely against his side. Water lapped at their feet.

Next to them, Fai swung his door open. He guided Syaoran out of the car with both hands on his waist, pushing him firmly to the side so he could shut the door. Syaoran protested; Kurogane took the boy's arm, stepped around him on the rock guard so the boy could be the one to guard the princess instead. Fai opened the door once more, unbuckled himself, and reached out with his pale, thin arms.

Kurogane waited until Fai had found his footing on the rock guard and shut the door, before tapping him on the arm. He pointed between both of them and the boulder the car had toppled against. "We're pushing the car upright."

Fai seemed to understand, looking between the kids, the car and the boulder. He squeezed around Kurogane to press Syaoran's arm firmly around the princess, chattering and gesturing for him to hold on tight. Kurogane understood it. The boy did, too. Fai smiled briefly then, looked back to Kurogane for his next command.

Getting onto the roof of the car wasn't as easy. Kurogane stepped on the driver's seat and the window ledge of the closed passenger door, heaving himself up onto the slick plastic roof. The other edge of the car had been lodged securely against a smooth, tall boulder. He shuffled to the side to make space for Fai, who struggled with the heavy folds of his cloak as he tried to clamber up.

Kurogane reached out for him. Fai took his hand and promptly tripped, and he would have slid ungracefully down the roof and smashed his face against grey rock had Kurogane not grabbed him.

As it was, Fai swung heavily into Kurogane's legs instead. Kurogane grunted at the impact, caught his breath.

"Okay?" he asked the wizard. Fai scrambled to plant his feet on the rock, smiling briefly at him. He patted Kurogane on the shoulder.

None of their attempts at leveling the car worked. They tried grasping onto the upper edge of the roof and pushing with their feet, but the car did not budge. Planting their backs flat against the roof did not help, either. In the time they spent trying to right the car, another three cold waves broke over the kids. Sakura was shivering hard when Fai turned to him, eyes large and worried. He pointed down at the boulder.

Kurogane crouched down when Fai did, braced his feet on the rock face. He curled his fingers into the lower edge of the car roof. Water lapped a few inches below. On the count of three, they pushed at the rock, backs and legs and arms straining. On the other side of the roof, the kids tried tugging at the car, flinging themselves away in an attempt to use their momentum to their advantage.

The car lifted off the rock by an inch, and fell back with a heavy creak.

Kurogane exchanged a look with the wizard. Something was working. They adjusted their feet on the rock, curled in close to the car and _heaved_.

The car rocked beneath them, arcing downwards with a great splash. Water sprayed into the air, showered onto them. He found himself stretched a foot over the floodwaters.

Next to him, Fai had allowed himself to fall into the water, scrabbling wetly against the car in an attempt to get to the kids. Kurogane gave him a leg up and followed behind, cold water soaking through his clothes anew. He found Fai holding Sakura's hand, rolled his eyes, and nudged the wizard to a side. Fai moved. Kurogane lifted first Sakura, then Syaoran bodily up onto the roof, where they huddled in a growing pool of water, teeth chattering.

Fai shrugged out of his cloak. He pulled his soggy notebook out, wrung the cloak dry, and draped it over both the kids so they'd be sheltered from the rain. It wasn't much help, though. They were now on a little plastic island, with hardly any protection from the elements. Their remaining supplies and blankets were in the car, thoroughly drenched. Fai was only wearing a thin shirt and a pair of pants.

A bottle of water floated out through a window. Now that the car was upright, the bottles of water were no longer trapped in the trunk. Kurogane swore, lunged over to grab it before it could get too far. He shoved it at the kids, plunged back into the chilly water. The cold ate into his bones. More bottles were bobbing in the car; he grabbed at them, pointed Fai to the other window, where there were bottles beyond his reach. The wizard stuck his head down, rescued what he could.

When all the bottles were accounted for, Kurogane peered into the murky depths of the trunk, frowned at the plastic drums bobbing on the water's surface. If the water level raised any more, the flood could take them away. Fai dropped into the water next to him, sending a wave splashing onto his face; Kurogane glared. Fai flapped his hand dismissively, lips quirked in a smile. He pulled the door open. Kurogane watched as the idiot waded in and knelt on the backseat, hefting the water and fuel drums up and over to him.

He wasn't opposed to letting Fai help, but Kurogane didn't think it involved staring at the curve of the wizard's ass when he shoved half his body into the back of the car, arms plunging into dark water. He swallowed.

Fai shoved a mass of blankets at him first. They were utterly sodden, and dripped when Kurogane heaved them onto the roof next to their other supplies. Next came the cardboard boxes. The wizard gave a flat stare when he pushed the boxes of food over. Kurogane glanced into them, couldn't see a thing past vague shapes beneath the water's surface. So much for having food that the worms had spared.

Even so, he slid the leaking boxes onto the roof of the car and joined the wizard on their crowded island. The kids stared at the boxes in dismay. He shrugged. "Nothing you can do there."

Fai smiled at the children and waved at their bottles of water—at least they still had those. He drained the water from the boxes of food, fit the bottles into them so they wouldn't go rolling off the roof.

Kurogane reached out for Fai's notebook, which laid forgotten in a corner. The wizard made to snatch at it. He sighed, pointed between himself and the kid and mimicked writing. Fai looked away grudgingly.

"If you'd used your magic and flown us out, none of this would've happened," he muttered.

The ink had not run in the notebook. Kurogane was inwardly glad; he hated to think all of Fai's efforts wasted, but perhaps the wizard had foreseen that his spells might be drenched. He separated a blank page carefully from the rest, tore it out, and took the pen clipped on the back cover of the notebook. _No more food,_ he wrote as legibly as he could. _Worms ate it. Wizard and I killed them. Worms die when in rainwater._

Kurogane handed the sheet to Syaoran, who fumbled with a flashlight. The sudden burst of cool blue brightness hurt his eyes. The boy read the note to himself, eyes growing wide. Syaoran pointed at "worms".

He wasn't keen on writing an essay, but the kids deserved an explanation. He thrust an arm up in the air, fingertips mincing together to represent a worm coming out of the ground. With his other fist, he punched the worm, ramming it flat. He tapped beneath his forearm—the path the worms probably took to get into the car. Kurogane glanced at the boy to see if he understood. Syaoran shook his head.

Fai snickered, took the notebook and pen back. Kurogane narrowed his eyes. "If you're so good at it, you explain."

With Syaoran's torch shining on soggy paper, the wizard drew the car on a slope, and a worm thrusting up to meet it. The next drawing was of the smashed worm, and little worm bits crawling beneath the car. Both Syaoran and Sakura winced; Fai sent a proud smile back at Kurogane. He huffed and turned away. Syaoran snapped his flashlight off.

The rain had eased by this point. Above, the clouds had thinned, and the floodwaters were still around them. It was cold, though. Kurogane shrugged his cloak off, wrung it dry. It didn't make sense to spend the night in wet clothes. So, he pulled his shirt off and wrung that out, too.

The kids were following in his example when he looked back, pants halfway down his legs. Fai was openly staring at him. He rolled his eyes, leaned over to hook a finger into the wizard's wet shirt. The blond gulped, dragged his eyes away, reaching down to pluck at the hem of his clothes.

Fai started with his pants. He kept his back to the kids the entire time, wriggling out of tight black material that seemed to want to cling even worse, now that it was wet. His legs were long and pale in the dimness. (Okay, so Kurogane was staring, himself.) He fumbled with the pants, squeezed them dry and got them back on, and finally pulled his shirt off.

Kurogane hadn't thought he missed seeing the tattoo. It was bold and beautiful on Fai's skin, the phoenix with its wings in front of itself, and he thought briefly about reaching over to trace its lines. It moved with Fai, rippling as the wizard brought his arms close to wring his shirt out.

"Kuro—" There was a flash of artificial light, and Syaoran's words cut off. Kurogane turned to see both kids gaping at Fai's tattoo.

He reached over, covered the flashlight with his palm. "Not your business," he said.

It wasn't as if the kids knew his language, but his sentiments got through to them. Syaoran flicked the light off and turned away, murmuring an apology; Fai hurriedly pulled his shirt back on.

"Look, we're stuck here for the time being. We need to conserve heat until the morning." It was dark, and he didn't have any other way of communicating this. Kurogane reached over for the flashlight, grabbed a cloak. "Share body heat."

Fai tensed when he shifted close enough that their arms touched, but Kurogane was waving the kid closer. When Syaoran shuffled into the space between his knees, he turned the boy around so he faced away, and sat him down. Fai's eyes grew wide when Kurogane draped a damp cloak around the three of them, waved the princess towards Fai.

It wasn't the best solution ever, but he managed to wind their cloaks in snug layers around them. Both kids leaned in for the heat. When Kurogane slid an arm around Fai's back, the idiot swallowed noisily, but did not complain. Maybe he was imagining it when Fai leaned closer.

Come morning, when the first sun of Harasa peeked over the sharp edges of the wash, Kurogane would find that Fai had fallen asleep on his shoulder, Sakura hugged close to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yes, a very long night. I giggled at the pee discussion. I am gross.


	7. A Day Without Words

Water glittered all around when he woke. The sky was more velvet blue than yellow, and the air was still, like the predawn quiet they'd witnessed in so many worlds. He was cozy on two sides, chilly on another, and his forehead had stuck uncomfortably to something warm that moved.

"Oi," Kurogane said, the vibrations of his voice carrying into Fai's forehead.

Fai snuffled and froze. His first instinct was to get away from Kurogane, but his movements were limited by something wrapped around him, and there was another heavy weight on his chest. He looked down, caught straggly ginger hair plastered to his front. Sakura.

Inches away, there was a similar mop of brown hair—Syaoran. The boy wasn't leaning on him, though. He was leaning on whoever Fai was leaning on, and Fai didn't want to think about this at all.

(Kurogane was warm and very comfortable.)

The kids were still asleep. Fai wasn't one to wake them when he didn't have breakfast ready and— There wasn't any breakfast. At all. All their food had been soaked in dirt-filled water the previous night, and there was no food for anyone. Dismayed, he lifted his head to look at Kurogane. "What do we do?" he whispered. "The children—"

Red eyes bore into him. He still hadn't got used to seeing them, after six months of staring at black eyes. Kurogane's eyes were so very red, and fierce, and beautiful.

The ninja answered in a low murmur, things that Fai did not understand at all. He heaved a sigh, bit his lip. When he wracked his brain for "food" in Kurogane's language and came up empty, he pretended to chew instead, glancing at the children and back at their warrior.

Kurogane lifted his shoulders by a fraction. The movement brushed Fai's shoulder, and he was reminded of how close they were. Sakura stirred the moment he tried to move away. Fai held himself still instead, pretended that he wasn't enjoying all the extra heat. His stomach squeezed.

(What had changed between them?)

Something moved at his back; Fai realized that it was Kurogane's arm, when it disappeared and Kurogane eased away, lifting his hand up between them. He drew shapes in the air, held his fingers horizontal and moved them forward, muttering, "Mokona."

_Use your magic to levitate a blanket. Rescue Mokona._

All the tingling in his stomach fizzled into dread. Fai opened his mouth, had nothing to say. As it was, his magic still lingered between the plains and the hills, when he and Kurogane had flown to erase the first traces of it in this world. He couldn't risk using it again.

Kurogane lifted an eyebrow, his gaze flat. He twisted his hand to jab Fai lightly in the shoulder, drew in the air again, and looked pointedly at the car and the flood around them.

"I can't solve this," Fai murmured helplessly. But what Kurogane meant was that his magic could have prevented all of this in the first place, if he'd used it. "I can't risk more magic. You know that."

But of course Kurogane wouldn't know, and Kurogane wouldn't understand. The notebook lay sodden behind them. He couldn't use any of the spells now, not when the pages were wet—there wasn't enough energy in the wind to lift heavy pieces of paper.

If he had used his magic, though, they wouldn't have been caught in the flood like that. They would still have Mokona, and food with them. But he would also be leaving a trail for Ashura-tii to follow. Either way, Fai was the cause of all this, and Kurogane knew it.

He looked away, wishing he were anybody but himself.

It wasn't likely that Mokona would suddenly appear and translate everything he said, but Fai had been burned once, and he had no wish to say anything else that Kurogane shouldn't hear. He still didn't know how much the warrior had learned. And now the children had seen the phoenix. It wasn't as if Kurogane would tell them anything about it, but. It had felt strange, being half-naked in front of the children. Fai would much rather have every bit of himself covered.

"Mokona," Kurogane said again.

That Kurogane had to resort to using Mokona's name was a wonder in itself. Fai had read into the magic that made the creature. It was powerful magic, far more intricate than anything he'd ever created himself, and cleverly woven, besides. He knew how to manipulate her magic, could tell that it would take a great deal for any actual harm to come to her.

Still, she had feelings, and her heart of hearts was probably worried about them now, even if she thought she was on a grand adventure.

"Mokona," he said, patting his own shoulder to show that she would be fine. Kurogane narrowed his eyes.

Syaoran stirred then, stretching and yawning. Fai watched the boy blink himself awake, spine snapping straight the moment he realized where he was. Syaoran whipped his head around, eyes wide. "Fai-shen," he gasped. "Sakura-zu."

Kurogane set a heavy palm on the boy's head and ruffled his hair. The words he said weren't something Fai could pronounce, but he recognized them. _It's okay._

It was still chilly out. Beneath the damp cloaks, however, there was warmth. Kurogane thought the same, apparently, because he placed a large hand on Syaoran's shoulder and pulled him back against his chest. Syaoran glanced up at Fai, apprehension in wide brown eyes. Fai smiled reassuringly back at him. "Kuro-mon is not that fierce," he said.

It shouldn't affect Fai, how much Kurogane cared for the children. But it did. Kurogane shared his concern; that resonated with something in him. It made him want to smile at completely inappropriate times. It made him forgive too easily. Kurogane made him forget.

Fai reached over to turn Syaoran's face towards himself. The bruise at his mouth had mostly faded by now, and so had the one on his throat. Both children healed extraordinarily quickly. He hoped Kurogane didn't pay attention to how he'd talked about those bruises... but Kurogane was always listening, wasn't he? As long as he didn't connect the dots, the ninja wouldn't realize that the boy and the girl were merely copies of other people. They were people themselves, but copies nonetheless.

"Fai-shen," Syaoran said, when Fai drew his hand back. He glanced at Fai's shoulder, before meeting his gaze again, reaching up to touch his own back. He wanted to know more about the tattoo.

Next to him, Kurogane huffed an amused breath. Fai elbowed him discreetly. "It's nothing really," he said lightly, flapping his hand to try and wave the boy's curiosity off. When Syaoran continued looking, Fai smiled brightly. "Yama."

That seemed to ease his inquisitiveness somewhat. Syaoran nodded and turned away, reluctant to rest his weight against Kurogane.

The silence lasted for all of minutes before Sakura woke. She turned and stretched; Fai smiled when her loosely-clenched fist came up to bump Kurogane on the cheek.

Sakura pulled her hand back, squirmed around to see Syaoran inches from her face and Kurogane the one she had accidentally hit. She flushed immediately, fumbling onto her knees and bowing and gasping her apologies.

Fai ignored the warmth in his chest, reached up to pat her on the head. "It's fine, Sakura-mis."

Her eyes grew wide. "Moko-mei?"

He shook his head, showed her his open palms. The girl's shoulders slumped. She glanced out hopefully across the glittering, muddy water, frowned at Fai when she came up with nothing.

Kurogane elbowed him, drew his fingers in the air again. Fai pouted. "You know I can't do that."

He unwrapped the cloaks to separate himself from Kurogane. It was chilly out, but nothing he couldn't withstand. Fai tucked the fabric back around Kurogane and Sakura to help preserve their warmth, but Kurogane was tugging at the ends to let himself out. He did, however, wrap the cloaks back around the children. Fai grinned at him, missing the words to tell the other that he would really make an excellent father.

He handed the kids a bottle of water, dug into the first cardboard box to see if there was any salvageable food. The waxed paper had gone translucent, and the flatbreads within were swollen, brownish, and they squished when he poked carefully at them. Fai winced. Kurogane handed the bottle of water back.

He was thirsty. The water tasted good, and he allowed himself the tiniest sip. Kurogane glared; he couldn't resist sipping a little more, wetting the rest of his mouth before twisting the plastic lid shut. "Don't be bossy, Kuro-lief," he said.

Syaoran had begun to converse quietly with the princess; at least the children had something going for them. Fai hated to think of either child struggling to talk with anyone else. (He'd always had—)

"Oi," Kurogane muttered, tapped him lightly on the chin. Fai blinked up at him; the ninja nodded at the food. "Tch."

"Always grumpy," he told the warrior, pulling the bundles of soggy bread out. Further inside the box, there were dubious, rehydrated pieces of fruit and meat, and two fresh fruits. Fai couldn't help but grin at that—they had edible food.

Kurogane's eyes sparked with interest when he rinsed the pear-like fruits with a bit of water. Fai pointed between Souhi and the fruits, straightened his fingers into a blade to mimic cutting them. The ninja was on the verge of protesting when Syaoran handed a short dagger over, smiling earnestly.

"You should learn from your son," Fai chided, reaching out to ruffle the boy's hair. Kurogane clicked his tongue and looked away.

Breakfast was very good, considering their circumstances. The fruit was sweet and juicy. Fai sliced quarters off his share for Sakura and Syaoran, who declined, and Kurogane, who took the fruit and shoved it into his mouth. Fai spluttered around the fruit, trying not to choke on it; Kurogane smirked in triumph.

(Kurogane's smile did funny things to his stomach. Fai was certain it signaled an oncoming stomachache.)

When they'd all wiped fruit juice off their hands, Kurogane stood up to look around them. One of the suns had risen now; it bathed the opposite end of the wash in gold. Fai drew Sakura to the side of the roof so they were facing away from Kurogane and Syaoran, and leaned in, pressing a hand to her belly.

At his questioning look, Sakura's curious smile fell. She shook her head. It was frustrating, this lack of a common language, but Fai figured that if he'd managed to live with Kurogane for six entire months, he could do the same with the children.

He reached around to grab his notebook, left open for a couple pages to dry, and sketched her bleeding cloth in a corner. Sakura winced.

As far as he knew, all their spare things were with Mokona, and Mokona was gone. He pointed at the sketch, mimicked wringing it in his hands. The princess stared at him in horror, glanced at the sea of water surrounding them. It would be like the pee he'd discussed briefly with Kurogane—bodily fluids would get everywhere there was water, and it was enough to make the princess cringe.

He pointed between the sketch and a bottle of water, scrubbed his hands together. She shook her head, mimicked lifting the bottle to her lips.

They needed, then, a new bleeding cloth. At least, a temporary one. Fai plucked at his own shirt, brought his hands together to signify folding it, and pointed at the sketch again. Sakura pursed her lips, looking down at her own clothes. He shook his head and pointed over at Kurogane, who scowled, none the wiser. From the way Sakura's lips thinned, she didn't completely disapprove of the idea.

There was still the matter of her infection. Fai drew a simple scale next to the sketch of her bleeding cloth, added an unsmiling face on one end, and a girl curled up in bed on the other, clutching at her stomach. In between, he drew an ant bite on an arm, making sure to include the insect so she had an idea what he meant.

Sakura watched as he did this. She looked down when he laid a careful hand on her thigh, before pointing along the scale, raising his eyebrows at her.

She took a deep breath, set her finger between the ant bite and the person on the bed. There was some pain, but he was relieved to note that it wasn't debilitating.

"Oi," Kurogane said, crouching down behind them. He nodded towards the other edge of the wash, where the second sun had begun to rise. Temperatures would start to soar, and soon.

Fai frowned, reached over to pluck at the sleeve of his shirt. The warrior blinked at him. He lifted his notebook, pointed at the sketch of the bleeding cloth, and tugged again. "Your shirt for the princess, Kuro-mon."

"Tch." The shirt came off easily. Fai wasn't staring at the lines and dips of Kurogane's chest. He wasn't. It wasn't like he hadn't seen the warrior naked, but. Kurogane was a feast for the eyes.

He grabbed at the shirt the moment it was free, turned back to fold it over on itself. When he was satisfied with its shape, Fai handed the makeshift bleeding cloth to Sakura, who blushed and murmured a word of thanks, bowing at Kurogane.

"Sakura-zu?" Syaoran asked, confused. Sakura flushed and glanced at him, shirt in her hands and without any privacy to swap her old bleeding cloth out.

Kurogane was the one to herd the boy's attention away. Fai watched as the warrior crouched down behind Syaoran, effectively blocking his view with his broad shoulders. It made him smile somehow. He patted Sakura reassuringly on the shoulder, waited for her tentative grin, before taking his notebook with him to Kurogane's side.

The warrior glanced up when he knelt. Fai held the flip side of the book up, drew Mokona on the blank page. Next to it, he drew one of Sakura's feathers and a plate of food. Beneath, he drew their animal representations—Big Doggy, Big Kitty, Little Doggy and Little Kitty.

Kurogane took the book over, sketched a block-like drawing of the car. Through the night, the flood level had dipped, but the hood of the car remained submerged. As far as Fai knew, the engine had to be dry for the machine to work. So, he wasn't surprised when Kurogane struck the car out with a decisive line.

The next sketch was a rectangle. Fai frowned until Kurogane pointed Big Kitty and Little Kitty onto it, and connected the rectangle to Mokona. They were to levitate a blanket with Fai's magic. His smile grew strained. The warrior looked flatly at him, turned the book around and jabbed a finger at the bleeding cloth he'd drawn, raising an eyebrow. They couldn't linger here, when Sakura had an infection and they had to get out of this world. As it was, they'd dallied for long enough. Fai glanced away.

Between blowing through to the feather with his magic, and using another tiny amount to fly them to Mokona, Fai would much rather choose the latter. It harbored a far slimmer chance of waking his King. His gut wrenched. "She'll manage for now," he said, hating himself for even thinking of prolonging the princess's discomfort. "It won't endanger her life."

(He really was the worst.)

Kurogane drew arrows between Big Doggy and Little Doggy next, pointing them towards the plate of food. He added swords and snakes—Fai assumed that Kurogane would take Syaoran out snake-hunting. Without Mokona, and without any food, this seemed the most efficient plan, even if the idea of eating an actual snake was absolutely repulsive to him. In Kurogane's language, "idiot."

Kurogane rolled his eyes.

Fai turned slightly, just enough for the princess to see that he was speaking to her. "Sakura-mis?"

She answered with a brighter string of words this time, and he turned the rest of the way, smiling when she stepped over to them, a bundle in her hands. There was relief in her eyes; some of the lines on her face had eased. Syaoran snapped his head up at her approach. Fai shuffled back, allowed the children to talk.

Kurogane turned to him then, handing the notebook back. It was still mostly damp. Fai's smile slipped. There was no way the four of them could remain waiting here an entire day, not when they'd either be baking beneath the sun, or soaking in tepid water that was still a disconcerting murky brown.

The warrior reached over for one of the discarded cloaks. Fai glimpsed the burns on his neck then, the ones he'd helped wash out a day ago. (It seemed an age since then.) "Kuro-elf."

Kurogane paused when Fai touched him lightly on the shoulder, probing at the burns along his neck. They reached up into his scalp as well, Fai was horrified to find, and the wounds were dark with dried blood. He had no salves for either Kurogane or Sakura—would the next world have medicine at all?

The ninja glanced at him over his shoulder. Fai gulped, stilled his fingers. Kurogane was a violent beast, and yet here he was, crouched beneath Fai, allowing his touch.

He backed away, patted the other briefly. "We'll have to go, it seems," he said. "The sooner, the better. I don't know how long we can last without food."

The children were huddled by a corner of the roof, peering at something over the edge. Fai turned away to pull a wet blanket from the pile on the far end. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kurogane shrug his cloak on. If he had memories of what they'd done while in that cloak, he wasn't acknowledging it.

Fai drew the ends of the blanket together, gathered most of it under his arm so he could squeeze it dry. "Syaoran-sha, make sure Sakura-mis doesn't fall in," he said, wringing thick cloth. Brownish water welled out, tinkled into the floodwaters below. It broke the still surface of the water. Fai blinked—he thought he saw movement beneath the surface.

They were small silvery shapes, darting to and fro like fish in water. There wasn't very much life force to them at all, he realized. Kurogane hadn't noticed them, and neither had he at first. "Kuro-pai," he began, turning to look at the warrior.

Three things happened at once. Something jumped out of the water at the kids. Kurogane drew his sword, ran his blade cleanly through it. Purple blood splattered into the water, and the silvery masses beneath the surface drew together, curling in on themselves like a little whirlpool. A droplet that had splashed up hung in midair for a second; a second silver shape darted up and into that droplet, and launched itself at Sakura. Kurogane swore, cut the creature down.

"Sakura-mis, Syaoran-sha, get back from the water," Fai said. As long as there was an airborne drop of water around them, they were at a disadvantage. They looked back at him, eyes large with uncertainty. He shoved the blanket at them, mimed wringing it dry. "That's all we have right now. Wring it, please."

They held it over the shallow water of the car hood and squeezed, tiny hands around the blanket. A few silver shapes drifted over. Fai's heart jumped to his throat. He crouched, wrapped his arms around the children's waists and dragged them back, mimicked wringing again. He pointed at the roof. "Do it here. Not over the water."

He didn't wait around for their nods; Fai got to his feet to stand by Kurogane.

If the fish weren't something they could easily sense, then the ninja needed someone to guard his back. Fai kept himself light on his feet, watched the waters around them. He hadn't seen creatures like this before. If the blanket dripped water, they could possibly be followed when they searched for Mokona, and attacked when they weren't looking.

A flash of silver leaped out again, headed straight for the kids. Kurogane cut it down; it fell back into the water with a splash. More silver shapes leaped to fill the droplets in midair. The ninja batted them off with the tip of his sword.

Purple blood swirled into the water around them, and the whirling mass of creatures grew in size with each ticking second. Fai knew they couldn't stay for much longer. The children were halfway done with the blanket.

"Kuro—" He was cut off when Kurogane's arm shot out for him, tugging him into his chest. Fai lifted his head just in time to see the warrior slicing through another silver fish. This one had attacked from behind—it hadn't been after Syaoran or Sakura. It had been targeting Fai. "Do you think they attack those who look in?" he asked.

Kurogane stepped around him, blade flicking through air to slice at two fish heading straight for Sakura. When he next glanced at Fai, he growled a string of words, lifted his sword and drew his finger through the air. _Fight or do magic._

He wasn't able to choose. Several fish flew into the air at once from all sides. He swooped down, snatched Hien from Syaoran's waist, rushing through an apology even as he twisted around to sever the creatures headed for them. Behind, Kurogane was moving with him, falling into a style they hadn't practiced since weeks ago, since they adjusted their fighting to ride on Yasha's steeds.

It was exhilarating, when he knew exactly what Kurogane was doing behind him, didn't need to look to know the dance they were in. Kurogane barked the word for _arrow_ ; Fai ducked, so the other could take down the creatures above them. He focused on the ones lower down, sent them skipping across the water's surface with Hien.

The boy's sword was heavy, hot, and it had a single sharp edge like Souhi. Fai hadn't used one of these before. He could adapt, however, and he did. The children were sandwiched between his legs and Kurogane's, muddy water from the blanket dripping onto the roof of the car.

They defended the children like this for several minutes, until the last of the silver splashed down into the water and Fai leaned back, tapping Kurogane's shoulder with the back of his hand. "You're a pretty decent fighter, Kuro-pai. Not that you'll ever let a rabid animal get past you, of course—"

He turned back to check on the children's progress; Sakura gasped. Fai glanced down at her, saw that she was looking _past_ him.

Silver flashed by, striking the back of Kurogane's thigh.

The warrior swore and reached down, swiping the squirming thing off his leg. It hit the water a few feet away, red-mouthed and glinting in the yellow sunlight, and the swirling swarm of fish migrated over, closing in on their brethren. There was a little red splotch on Kurogane's leg, where blood was seeping into the weave of his pants.

"Kuro-lord?"

Kurogane muttered dismissively, eyes still fixed on the water around them.

"We have to go," Fai said. The children had stopped wringing the blanket. He took it from them, grabbed a fold and shook it out. Kurogane muttered something at him, something that sounded like _hurry up_ , but Fai was already scribbling runes in the air, magic pulsing hot in his fingers. The other sun was blazing down on them. If the fish were anything like the worms, they'd be pursued for Kurogane's blood.

Scarcely had the blanket begun to levitate next to the roof when the whirling mass of fish dissipated to surround the car once more. This time, they almost looked pinkish. Fai couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light, or if they'd changed colors, or what. The children clambered onto the blanket at his ushering, Hien back in its sheath, and he threw the remaining bottles of water onto the blanket with them.

One of the bottles rolled off the edge of the blanket; Syaoran gave a muffled exclamation, leaned over to catch it, and wobbled unsteadily. This blanket was never meant to support weight on its edges. Fai and Sakura yelped. The princess grabbed him around the waist, and the boy dangled over the edge of the blanket for long moments, out of reach of both Kurogane and Fai.

A silver streak shot out of the water then; Fai wasn't in time to cast a shield around the boy. It attached itself onto one of Syaoran's arms, and he cried out.

With a low curse, Kurogane vaulted onto the blanket. It bobbed beneath his weight; he hauled the boy back up, grabbed his arm and wrenched the fish off, flinging it back into the murky brown floodwater.

The fish were starting to leap from the water's surface when Fai scooped up the remaining cloaks, dumping them onto the blanket with the children. They called out for him; Kurogane swore and reached over, yanked him up by his arm just as he sent the blanket hovering higher.

Fai struggled with the soft edge of the blanket until Kurogane slipped a hand beneath his other arm and heaved. He got a knee on the blanket; it yielded beneath his weight, and he lurched forward, falling face-first into the hard plane of Kurogane's bare abdomen.

"Idiot," Kurogane said in Nihonese. He continued with another string of incomprehensible words, but there was amusement on his face when Fai glanced up (and promptly jerked away).

"You're the idiot," Fai shot back, and repeated _idiot_ so the ninja could understand. Kurogane snorted. "It's a simple levitation spell. I had no time to inscribe runes to fortify the edges."

None of them could understand that, but that was fine. It was better that they didn't hear it. Fai remembered Syaoran's wound, reached over to grab his arm for a closer examination.

The wound was small but deep. It looked like a single puncture mark, and there was no way to tell immediately if there was poison involved. He pressed around the wound so blood welled to the surface of the injury, held his hand out for Sakura's wrapped bundle. She handed it to him, watched with trepidation as he dabbed fresh blood away.

And there, amidst crimson blood, was a thread of silver. His stomach twisted. Fai lifted Syaoran's arm higher, unable to help the odd angle. The blood and silver oozed out far too slowly like that.

Kurogane took Syaoran's arm, sealed his mouth around the puncture and sucked. He spat a mouthful of blood into the wad of cloth Fai held out. Syaoran winced. This continued for a handful of seconds; Fai's attention shifted to the warrior's thigh, that was still bleeding freely onto the blanket. "Sakura-mis, draw the poison from Syaoran-sha, please." He pointed between the girl and Syaoran's arm to get the point across, and she nodded grimly. "Kuro-sir. Turn around. Your leg."

Kurogane wiped his mouth off, rinsed it out with a mouthful of bottled water. Fai floated them away so the fish couldn't leap up through the splashing water. Next to them, Syaoran had frozen, but the princess was very determinedly taking his arm and mimicking what Kurogane had just done.

There wasn't really space on the blanket for Fai to treat the warrior's wound. Kurogane knelt to slow the progress of blood through his arteries; Fai tore open the hole in his pants, squeezed around the puncture with his fingers. It didn't work very well; he had little choice but to push his face into the crook of Kurogane's knee, closing his mouth around the wound.

The warrior's blood was thick and warm, heavy in his mouth. It tasted coppery, exactly like Fai's blood when he bit his cheek or his tongue, and it wasn't something he wanted to experience again if he could help it. This was far too intimate.

Fai sucked on the wound, spat blood out until there was no longer a trace of silver. Kurogane reached down to examine his thigh. Fai swatted his hand away, ran clean water over raw flesh. When he looked back at the kids, Sakura was wrapping a strip of fabric around Syaoran's arm, and they were both blushing.

He would have nudged Kurogane to get him to look, except Kurogane was watching him instead. The ninja reached over to wipe his mouth with the backs of his fingers. Fai froze; Kurogane tossed a cloak onto his head.

His stomach was doing funny flips again. Fai fumbled with the cloak, thoroughly annoyed with himself when he only succeeded in bloodying white fabric. Kurogane was in the middle of bandaging his wound. Fai left him to that, checking on the children to make sure they were fine.

"Moko-mei?" Sakura asked, looking between Fai and the flood below.

He nodded, drew Sakura's feather on his notebook, and showed it to Syaoran. At his upturned palm, the boy pointed in the direction they'd been heading in, brow furrowed. "Mokona-mei?" he said.

Fai flew them over to the edge of the wash, where he deposited water and blankets both in the shadow of a rock. Kurogane climbed off the blanket, stretched his legs. Syaoran and Sakura both attempted to follow; Fai caught the princess's hand, held her back on the blanket.

"We're going to look for Mokona," Fai said, holding Syaoran's gaze, then met Kurogane's eyes for the shortest instant. "Kuro-mer, you'll take care of Syaoran-sha. Find something to eat."

The warrior nodded when he chewed. Before they floated too far away, Fai stretched two fingers out at the suns of Harasa. He swung his arm up in an arc, so his fingers pointed at the zenith.

"We'll be back by then," he told Kurogane, gesturing between all four of them and pointing at the ground between.

Kurogane nodded again. Fai gave Syaoran a reassuring smile, drew the blanket back over the murky waters of the wash. The pair on land watched as they left. Fai turned to Sakura, showed her how to hunker down and hold on tight to the blanket's edge.

They flew slowly over the opaque waters at first, past craggy rocks, and as Kurogane and Syaoran disappeared from sight, Fai pulled them higher into the air, increasing their speed so the wind blew off their hoods and ran through their hair. Sakura laughed, eyes crinkled in delight. He saw the way she leaned forward in excitement, hardly a spark of fear at flying so far above the ground.

She was a natural at flying, he was certain. Perhaps not so much with complex machines, but if she was given something simpler...

She turned to him and said something, pointing at the water's surface. "Down?" Fai asked, pointing along with her. She nodded; he patted her hand, and the blanket tipped them toward the wash.

Sakura squealed. They skimmed inches over the water's surface, where Fai saw a silver shape or two and pulled them hurriedly back up into the air.

The princess beamed at him, cheeks flushed. She hadn't laughed at all this morning. He'd been worried that her infection was too unbearable—there was no way of curing it with what they had, and there was no going back for medication. Looking at her now, however, he was glad that he'd made the decision of bringing her along. She could stand to feel better, and it eased the weight in his chest when she smiled.

Like the music he'd played for Kurogane, this was something he wanted to do for the princess. She was important.

For how small she was, Sakura comforted him in a way Kurogane couldn't. She was bright and pure and wholesome, with her calm eyes and her gentle touch, and she felt like redemption. He knew he could never truly pay for everything he'd done wrong. With Sakura, though, it was as though he could, a little bit at a time.

Fai closed a hand over hers, and for the briefest moment imagined someone else's hand, pale and identical and beloved.

(He had flown with Fai once, a very long time ago.)

Flying with Kurogane was different from flying with Sakura. Kurogane had been watching him. The princess, however, was focused on flying, and he fed off her joy, remembered what it was like to be young again.

Fai whooped, looked expectantly at Sakura when he raised them higher in the air. She whooped too, and he grinned. This was turning out far better than he'd anticipated.

* * *

Kurogane discovered that Syaoran was quite possibly the best person for him to be stranded with. There wasn't truly a language barrier; all he'd had to do was pick a crooked branch off a shrub and sketch the words _hunting snake for food_ on the soft ground. The boy had taken one glance and nodded earnestly, counting off the number of people they had to provide for.

Curious, Kurogane had enunciated the phrase. Syaoran had imitated it decently, pointing to each word to ascertain its pronunciation. It was so different from talking to Fai in Yama that he'd snorted, wishing the idiot were around so he could point out the sort of student Syaoran was, and knock Fai on the head. If the wizard had put in just a little effort, they could've been saying so much more in six months.

(Except, of course, Fai would much rather stay away.)

They had covered up their remaining supplies with twigs, taken what they needed, and begun to hike across the sparse land. Past the flooded wash, vivid red rocks towered above them, round-edged and layered, like someone had stacked together differently-colored clay and sanded them down at the same time. The ground dried slowly after the rain. The vegetation, where they could find it, was a deep green, but all of it was inedible hard wood and needle-like leaves.

Syaoran scribbled the word for _water_ , raised his eyebrows. Kurogane shrugged. It did look like water ran in little occasional creeks here, pooling and seeping in the ground so trees could reach deep down with their gnarly roots.

It took some searching to find fresh tracks. With the lower terrain likely flooded, Kurogane headed them onto higher ground. They clambered onto gentle rocky hills, wound between steep cliffs and passed beneath great stone arches. The suns crawled slowly up the sky, shining stinging rays down on them.

When he sensed a large snake coiled in the shadow of a rock, Kurogane stopped the boy, wrote _use your senses_ in the soft dirt by their feet. Syaoran closed his eyes, stretched his senses out. Kurogane watched with some pride when the boy's eyes snapped open, eyes bugging. He said something, pointed in the direction of the snake.

It wasn't as easy as trapping a snake, but Kurogane wasn't about to complain. He tread quietly on damp ground, avoided brushing against shrubs to keep his presence masked, and cut the snake's head off in a single swift stroke while the boy watched from the side.

_Your turn next time,_ he wrote in dirt. Syaoran nodded, but he had paled by several shades. Kurogane sighed.

Fai would probably have killed a snake without qualm. Kurogane didn't know. They hadn't had the opportunity or need to do so, and he was curious. He wondered how the wizard and the princess were faring on that flying blanket, whether they had found the white lump, and whether they'd encountered difficulties. Fai would do everything he could to protect Sakura, Kurogane knew. What of Fai himself, though? Who would protect him?

Mokona wasn't here, and Kurogane had no chance of contacting that damn witch. So, there was still no protective charm for Fai.

The suns were closer to the zenith now than they were to the horizon. They killed a smaller snake—Syaoran struck out a second too slow and risked being bitten, and Kurogane watched on while the boy recovered, spun and regained the upper hand. Syaoran resorted to using a kick instead of his sword. It stunned his prey; he was forced to bear down on the snake with Hien, and Kurogane saw the warring determination and hesitation on his face when he dealt the killing blow.

After, Kurogane carried both snakes head-down, one hand tight around their necks to avoid leaving a blood trail behind. When they finally reached their landing spot, Fai and Sakura were nowhere to be seen. He bit back his disappointment, had the boy build a campfire so they could cook their kills.

"You and Fai-shen together," Syaoran said haltingly. Kurogane looked up from gutting the creatures, entrails to a side. (He wasn't ready to answer anything about him and the idiot.) "Fight very good."

Kurogane shrugged.

Syaoran struggled with his next words, sighed, and picked a stick up. _You and Fai-san fight better together than alone,_ he wrote. _Did you learn that in Yama?_

"Yeah. Had no choice." He wasn't sure if he liked the compliment. He was a ninja through and through, and he had years of experience fighting by himself. Hell, he prided himself on his swordsmanship. What he looked like fighting with Fai at his back, though, was subject to an onlooker's prejudices. "What did we look like?"

When the boy frowned, Kurogane took the stick, rephrased his question in soft ground. Syaoran bit his lip, forehead wrinkled. _It was different,_ he wrote. _It looked like a dance._ He hurriedly scratched that out, wrote in its place, _like you had been practicing with each other for very long._

Kurogane quirked a smile, replied, _six months. Four hours every night. Practice with the princess and you'll be the same._

The boy flushed crimson. "You and Fai-shen. Very close. Sakura-zu and I. We... we start at the same time."

On the ground, Syaoran wrote, _we all met at the same time. Yet you and Fai-san are closer than the princess and I._

He blinked at that. It wasn't something he'd thought about consciously, but it was true, in a way. The boy and his princess were still blushing around each other. In contrast, he knew every inch of Fai's body. Kurogane shrugged. "There was Yama. Six months. Can't forget that."

Syaoran looked at the crackling fire. Kurogane sliced the meat into even pieces, spearing them through with twigs that he propped over yellow flame.

He took the stick back, wrote, _envious?_

The boy pursed his lips. After a while, he nodded.

Kurogane couldn't help barking a laugh. At Syaoran's crestfallen expression, he breathed in slowly. Whatever happened between himself and Fai was none of the kid's business, but he would be damned if he let Syaoran believe it was all sunshine and flowers with the idiot. _It's not what you think it is._

He got an owlish look in response. Syaoran took the stick, stamped out the previous words with his feet, and wrote over them. _You touch him a lot. And you fight flawlessly together._

"Tch." Kurogane reached over, ruffled the boy's hair. "Neither of those means anything."

Uncomprehending, Syaoran wrote, _love?_

He glanced away, heat creeping up his neck. So maybe it was love. And Fai didn't feel the same. What did that make it?

Something must have shown in his expression, because the boy backed away and waved his hands, as if he were trying to refuse a stack of goods. "Okay," he said.

Kurogane snatched the stick back, scribbled, _teach the princess the kata. She's eager to learn. Can't help you with the love stuff._

Syaoran read it warily, as though he were expecting the words to reach up and bite him.

When he finally relaxed, Kurogane added, _ask the wizard. He should know._

Syaoran nodded violently. He changed the topic with the next line, however. _Will you supervise my training?_

Kurogane grinned at that, tossed the kid a bottle of water. It was almost noon, and there was no sign of Fai and Sakura whatsoever. Maybe they found a lead, maybe not. Either way, he was prepared to hunt for them if they weren't back before sunset. "Drink up first."

* * *

They had been swooping through the air for a long while, looping around tall boulders and skimming the water's surface, until Sakura pulled her focus together and they'd begun following the flooded wash in earnest. The wash opened out into a wide plain, where the water thinned out and little plants and rocks poked up through the water's surface. Past that, the water converged again into a river that led to a wide, glittering sea.

Sakura gasped when they first glimpsed the horizon, for it was perfectly straight—they had found a sea in the desert, and she'd seen nothing like it. When she turned her bright eyes to the shore, Fai flew them down, close enough that she could almost touch the waves. (She had declared her love for beaches, once.)

Except dead fish bobbed along with the waves, and the shore was actually an accumulation of bone fragments, stretching as far as the eye could see.

"That's terrible," she breathed, peering in dismay past the blanket.

"It is," he agreed, "except I understand you now, Princess."

She turned with a wide smile, threw her arms around him. Fai smiled, pulled her close in relief. This meant their search was almost over, and they could head back, end this expenditure of magic. "Fan-ril! Moko-mis must be close."

"It does seem like it, doesn't it?" he said, grinning a little bit more honestly now. "Let's talk a bit more to determine which direction she's in, okay?"

Sakura nodded. Her expression fell. "I'm sorry that you had to use your magic to do this, Fai-ril. I know it's not easy for you."

He turned his grimace into a smile, fought down the vision of long black hair splayed wide. "Don't apologize, Sakura-mis. What's done is done. Let's focus on looking for Mokona, okay?"

She pressed her lips together. "Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything, really," he answered, floating them this way and that to determine the boundary of Mokona's translation matrix. None of them had measured how wide it was, and without physical markers to pinpoint the spots he'd covered, it was next to impossible calculating Mokona's location from what he could see and remember. "Mokona's translation locus seems to be too large for a crude measurement, I think."

He ended up bringing them forward on a rough estimate, made on the assumption that the magical construct was floating on the surface of the sea. Fai dearly hoped Mokona wasn't far below. Nonetheless, he kept up with Sakura's chatter, both to distract her from her discomfort, as well as to ensure that they were still going in the right direction.

"You and Kurogane-ril fought really well back there, on the car," the princess said, her eyes bright.

"Oh?" He handed her a bottle of water; there had been little shade from the suns of Harasa, and it was horribly warm beneath his cloak. His skin felt too tight. Sakura drank a mouthful; he sipped some, kept talking so she didn't notice. "Why do you say that?"

"It looked like you knew when each other was going to move," she said. "And even when you didn't understand the language, you knew what he meant."

She ducked down in an imitation of his earlier move; he smiled wryly. "Kuro-mii said the word 'arrows'. In Yama, that meant he was going to take care of the arrows coming from above."

"You know each other very well, don't you?"

Fai glanced away, busied himself with adjusting the spellwork on the blanket. They sighed when the other half of the blanket curled further over them, increasing the area of much-needed shade. He had been getting slightly dizzy from the heat. "Well, we had to cooperate a lot in Yama, you know. Kuro-lief's language isn't all that easy to pick up. So we made do."

"That must have been difficult." She frowned, pouting a little.

He smiled, patted her hand. "It wasn't so bad. Don't worry about it."

"Okay." She fell silent, and he glanced about for signs of Mokona. "Do you— Well, I know you said you and Kurogane-ril aren't, um, intimate, but well, I wondered..."

"You wondered?"

"If you like him."

Fai raised his eyebrows so it wouldn't look like he was frowning. "Where did that come from? Kuro-pai and I are just really good friends."

Which wasn't really the truth, because he couldn't afford to be friends with anyone.

Sakura shrugged, looked guiltily away. "Syaoran-sha and I have been talking about you. We're curious."

He flapped a hand at her and smiled. "There's really nothing going on between Kuro-mon and I. Don't worry about it."

"But Syaoran-sha said—" The princess bit her lip uncertainly. He tilted his head, inviting her to continue. "Syaoran-sha said he's heard things at night. That was really because of the comic, though, but he also said that Kurogane-ril touches you a lot more these days. I was hoping that... that you're happy with him."

Fai blinked at her. It hadn't occurred to him that the children would talk about _them_ , about him and Kurogane. That, and they really didn't make sounds at night... did they? Nothing happened between him and Kurogane. "Well," he said slowly, "Syaoran-sha must be mistaken, then. We're just good friends. Great fighting partners."

"I understand." She nodded solemnly, watched when he reached up to touch the tattoo through his robe. "About that... painting on your back. I— Well, I didn't mean to see it," she confessed. "But I wanted you to know that it's beautiful."

Fai cracked a smile at that. He turned his eyes back to the sea, kept his senses stretched for creatures and strange magics that could be lurking. "Thank you."

"Does it have a name?"

It couldn't hurt to let the princess know... could it? He licked his lips, answered, "it's called Nemi. But it's a secret between you and me, Sakura-mis. Don't tell anyone else."

She smiled when he winked. "Okay. I promise."

They sat in silence for a stretch, scanning the water's surface as they flew. Fai hadn't expected a sea in the desert, and there was no telling what sort of water was in it, when it left fish intact and dead. Lightning wouldn't explain the sheer amount of broken fish vertebrae on the shore.

"Did it hurt?" Sakura asked, glancing at his shoulder.

He smiled and shrugged. "Maybe a little. You aren't thinking of getting one, are you?"

She blinked several times, scrunching her face up in thought. "No," she said haltingly. "Something permanent like that... it should be meaningful."

Fai couldn't help the way his grin grew wide—the princess was more than he'd ever expected her to be. "That's right."

"What does yours mean?"

His smile froze then. "Is it okay if I don't answer, Sakura-mis? It really isn't that important."

She frowned at him; he changed the topic.

"How much did Kuro-woof teach you the other day?"

"Well... he taught me three of his kata," she said. "And I will be practicing them with Syaoran-sha."

"I'm supposed to teach you self-defense, am I not?" When she nodded, he continued, "I will need you to be very flexible. You said you were with a circus troupe briefly in Shara, right? So it's kind of the same thing—you'll do stretches every day, touching your toes, bending your back, things like that."

"You'll show me how to do that?" she asked hopefully. He dipped his chin; she grinned.

"With self-defense, Kuro-sir wants you to learn the most effective ways of fighting. So—"

There was a familiar, warbling sort of singing then, faint but unmistakable, and they exchanged a look. "Moko-mis!" Sakura cried.

They began shouting for the magical construct, Fai to the left and Sakura to the right, and it took little time for her to yell back, her voice lifting once she realized that help had come. Fai raised the blanket some; they peered down and spotted her against the bright sparkle of calm waves.

Fai was the one to scoop Mokona out of the water. He reached out for her paws, grabbed her, and set her on the spare blanket Sakura held between her palms. She wasn't really soaked at all, and when she emerged, she leaped first onto Fai. "Wasn't Fai not going to use magic?" she cried.

"Shh. We'll go back to Kuro-ris and Syaoran-sha now, okay?" He patted her gently, handed her over to Sakura, who cradled the white thing to her chest.

"How are Kuro-ris and Syaoran?" Mokona asked, her ears drooping.

"They're okay. They're looking for food for all of us," Fai answered, turning the blanket back in the direction they'd come. He poked his head out from beneath the shelter of the blanket, winced at how the suns had moved past the zenith. "Oops. I think we're late. Hang on tight, everyone!"

Sakura nodded, tucked Mokona into the well of her crossed legs, and held on to the edge of the blanket. He increased their speed, smiled when both Sakura and Mokona cheered. They didn't protest when he handed water over; there were two other full bottles on the blanket, but Fai had hardly swallowed any of it. It was fine, though. He was getting used to the heat.

Fai shook his head to clear a vague dizziness, licked his lips again. Beneath, the sea flew past them, and the plains were a pale yellow edge in the distance.

"Fai-ril? You look kind of flushed," Sakura said, leaning over for a closer look. "You need more water."

"I don't think so," he murmured, accepted her bottle. For how good the water tasted, though, it felt like there wasn't enough space in his stomach for it. He capped the bottle, gave it back. "Mokona, why don't you tell us about your adventure? It was very scary, wasn't it?"

The blanket dipped slightly when Mokona began to talk. It bobbed up again, and Sakura glanced over.

"I'm fine," he told the girl, smiling. Mokona frowned. "I just need to close my eyes for a bit. Sakura-mis, won't you steer the blanket?"

She nodded hesitantly, forehead wrinkled, but slid her hand over so he could hold it. It was how he'd let her direct their flight earlier. Fai squeezed his eyes shut against the headache building at the back of his skull, listened to the flutter of his heartbeat and Mokona's high voice. It was easy enough to follow Sakura's directions—up, down, left, right. For an instant, he listed to the side, and part of his face caught in the sunlight. It hurt. Sakura pulled him back into the shade.

Once they'd reached the high edges of the wash again, Fai sighed, swallowed against the vague unease in his belly. It felt far too warm in his cloak, and he could barely focus on holding the blanket up.

"Fai-ril?" Sakura shook him lightly. "Fai-ril? I see Kurogane-ril. He's coming over, we can stop—"

He wanted to land gently, but his vision grew black even as he opened his eyes, and he felt them crash into hot, hard ground. There was a shout; he opened his mouth to tell Kurogane to get Sakura, but all that came out was a croak.

Fai fainted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few notes about the chapter:
> 
> **1.** I based Syaoran and Sakura's suffixes on Mandarin forms of address ;)  
>  **2.** The red rocks were inspired by Zion National Park. The sea in the desert with the fishbone shore is, essentially, the Salton Sea. Pics of both are on [my Tumblr](http://invisible-as-i-run.tumblr.com/tagged/desert).  
>  **3.** Re: Fai - I'm sure you guys were expecting it. LOL First instance without Kurogane mothering him, and he goes and does that.  
>  **4.** This chapter essentially deals with the kids' reactions to Kurogane and Fai, among other things.
> 
> Lots of little things in this chapter... I hope you guys liked it ;)


	8. A Loved One

They had been in the middle of a spar when Kurogane caught movement from the corner of his eye. He twisted away from the boy, studied the growing shape floating across the flooded wash. It wasn't the flat surface that Fai and Sakura had left on, but there were two people in it all the same, and Syaoran's exclamation proved his suspicions right. "It's them! They're back!"

"Yeah," he answered. Syaoran turned a bright grin on him; he couldn't help smirking. Fai had delivered, and he was proud of the idiot for pulling through.

Except the blanket wobbled in midair, and it wasn't slowing down when it approached. Sakura had a hand on Fai. She wasn't waving at Kurogane or Syaoran; both her attention and Mokona's were focused on the wizard, who was shaking his head, blinking blearily.

Then the blanket tipped, and all its passengers were sent sprawling across red dirt, scarce yards away from their temporary campsite. Kurogane swore. He was running before he was truly conscious of it, noting the way Sakura pushed herself onto her arms and looked around. He changed courses, stopping right next to Fai and extricating him from the blanket. The wizard was limp.

"Kurogane-san! Fai-san, he hasn't been feeling well the entire way back," Sakura said, crawling over to them. He examined her briefly—dirt had smudged across her face and arms, but she looked otherwise unharmed. The white lump was hanging on to her cloak. "I think it's heatstroke. I don't think he had enough water."

"You idiot," he seethed, gathering the wizard up in his arms. His heart thudded painfully in his ribs.

Through all the times he'd scooped Fai against himself in Yama, the wizard had never felt so light and fragile as this. It made him scared, because he was reminded of his mother, small and fragile and limp.

Syaoran had joined the princess by his side; Kurogane carried the wizard to the shadow of the nearest rock, where the oppressive heat of the suns immediately eased. "You're sure it's heatstroke."

Sakura nodded. "We weren't attacked at all. Fai-san just said he needed to close his eyes. He was flushed the whole time we were coming back. I tried getting him to drink, but I didn't think he needed more than that. I'm sorry."

Kurogane snorted, glared down at the unconscious blond. Fai's forehead was pinkish, and so were his cheeks. His lips were chapped. "Not your fault. What do I do?"

"If it's heatstroke, we'll have to cool him down," the boy said, looking around them. There wasn't much available—the floodwaters were murky and questionable, and all they had were shade and water. "You'll, um, have to remove all the unnecessary clothes, Kurogane-san."

He didn't want to do that here, if he could. Not out in the open, and not with the kids staring at them like that. Kurogane tugged Fai's hood over his face, carried him a little ways deeper into the cliffs, where there were narrow crevices between rocks that would offer Fai some privacy. "And then what?"

"Wet his skin. It'll help cool him off. If we were on another world, I'd say to use ice, but all we have now is just water." The kids were still with him, and Sakura had grabbed a couple bottles of water and the blanket. "I can do it if you'd rather—"

"Save it. I'll do this myself. Just go tend the fire. Eat something. I'll yell if I need anything." Kurogane rounded the leaves of a juniper tree, found the little space beyond satisfactory. "You know where I am. The meat's probably cooked by now."

"Do tell us when Fai-san is feeling better," Sakura implored, green eyes shimmering. "I'll come by with some food for you later."

"All right. Now go." He set the wizard down, nodded his thanks when the princess left the water and blanket behind.

They were in a small canyon of some sort, with walls of rough red rock rising above them. This particular crevice was a dead end. Above, the sky was bright blue between the rock faces, almost too bright to be stared at for too long. Kurogane sighed, unbuckled Fai's cloak and spread it out. The suns had passed over this spot earlier—the ground was warm and dry, and the air in the shade was still. It was quiet in here.

He set to work stripping Fai of his clothes, gaining a new appreciation for the idiot when he was awake. Right now, Fai was a dead weight, and he received no cooperation whatsoever in getting his shirt off. So, he leaned Fai against his chest, peeled away his tight shirt and pants.

There were bruises on pale thighs. Faded, yellow-green bruises that were almost gone.

Kurogane frowned, tugged black pants absently off bony feet. He didn't remember seeing those bruises last night, when Fai had stripped briefly to wring his clothes out. Maybe he hadn't been looking closely, but. When had Fai hurt himself?

For good measure, Kurogane undressed the blond completely, grabbed one bottle of water, and cut a piece out of the blanket so he could use it as a rag.

As far as he knew, Fai hadn't done much here that would get him hurt. He'd been leaving the driving to Kurogane, and bouncing on those plastic seats hadn't given him bruises.

They had landed hard on those steeds back in Yama, though. Kurogane traced the bruises with his eyes, turned Fai over to check his tailbone.

And there, an angry purple-green that still had not faded, was another bruise.

"You're a fucking idiot," he told the wizard. Fai didn't answer.

He wet the rag, ran it over the idiot's forehead, neck and torso. His back was warm. More water went onto the rag, and Kurogane took care to wipe the tattoo down gently. It didn't take long to identify the warmest parts of Fai's body—armpits, groin, neck, back. Kurogane fanned the wizard dry with his hand, repeated the towel bath. When that was done, he set the rag on the bottles, pressed his mouth to Fai's temple, and set him back on his open cloak.

Fai, when unconscious, looked far less happy than usual. Maybe it was the way he held his lips in a perpetual half-smile when he was awake. How long had he been doing that? All his life, perhaps.

Another bath later, Kurogane decided that Fai would be better off lying on his front. Maybe he wanted to see Nemi again, but it really was because Fai's back had the greatest surface area, and he could still reach his armpits and neck from this angle. Exposing his back to air would cool him in the shortest time.

He turned Fai carefully over, thought about Yasha's steeds, and slipped a hand between the wizard's thighs, spreading them open. Kurogane winced. Fai had a bruise on the underside of his balls, more green than yellow. And he never said a damn word about all this.

Kurogane glowered at that blond head. Was that why he looked so uncomfortable about the kids' bruises?

"You could've just told me, damn you." Not that he could do much about them right now. He wet the entirety of Fai's back again, frowned at the phoenix. "And you were supposed to take care of him."

At least the tattoo wasn't a breathing, talking thing like the white lump.

Kurogane turned Fai on his side, ran the rag over him, and poured a thin stream of water onto the back of his head, ruffling his hair so it spread across his scalp.

He hadn't looked closely in daylight before, but Fai's hair was soft and fine, like spun silk. Or sunlight. It had been the first time he'd ever seen hair this color, and though there was hair of all colors in Hanshin, Sorata had said they were unnatural. Fai's was real. Kurogane rubbed the fine strands between his fingers, thought back to Yama. Where he'd had to trim his own hair with a blade, Fai's barely grew at all in their time there.

He ran his fingers through Fai's hair, thought about the last night he'd seen his parents together. When his father had kissed his mother's hair.

Kurogane swallowed.

He thought about doing the same, could not. Fai wouldn't accept it. This was nothing like what his parents had.

He pulled his fingers away, in case Fai woke to find him touching his hair. (It had been fine, when Fai was the one to touch his hair, but he wasn't sure how the idiot would react to this.) Kurogane looked further down, at the phoenix on Fai's thin back. The damp was drying; he ran the wet rag over Fai's skin again, set it aside.

The wizard had mentioned that the phoenix liked him. Whether it was really the case, Kurogane didn't know. He wanted to stroke it with his fingers. But this was broad daylight, and if it was sentient, it would be rude not to greet it first. He'd greeted his family's guardian spirit before; this wasn't any different. So, Kurogane muttered, "hey."

The phoenix didn't respond, merely rose and fell with Fai's breathing.

Kurogane reached forward, stroked his thumb over the phoenix's crown. Fai's skin was warm and smooth, and the phoenix remained still. Slowly, he traced the bold, sweeping lines of its wings, the circles and swirls, until he'd covered every last curl of ink. And he hadn't had enough, not really. He'd touched it countless times by now, under the flicker of the bathing tent lamp, and in the cloak of darkness, Fai sweating beneath him.

Whatever it was, the phoenix was still part of Fai. Perhaps it was all the best parts of himself he couldn't see.

Kurogane pressed a brief kiss to the phoenix's head, and drew away.

* * *

It took a while before the pinkness of Fai's skin dissipated. When it did, he stirred, fingers clenching by his sides. He sucked a sharp breath, looked down at himself, and froze.

"You're an idiot," Kurogane said, pulling away from the cliff face he'd been leaning against. Relief unfurled in his chest.

"Kuro— What— The children?" Fai sat up, and the shirt that had been draped across his hips slipped a little.

"They're fine," he said roughly, shoving a fresh bottle of water at the wizard. Sakura had come by with two more bottles of water, and he'd intercepted her before she could round the leafy tree. "Probably doing kata together."

Fai's shoulders sagged. He took the bottle gingerly, glanced around them, and down at himself. "What happened?"

"Tch. Heatstroke. I told you to drink the damn water, and you didn't fucking listen." Kurogane rolled his eyes, watched as Fai took a small sip. "Drink half of that, you idiot. I'm not returning your clothes if you don't."

The wizard's eyes grew wide. He drank again. His voice was distractingly hoarse. "What kind of game are you trying to play this time, Kuro-sama?"

"I'm making you stay hydrated. Idiot." He rolled his eyes, grabbed the lump of clothes next to him and waved it at the blond. "Drink more. I didn't say to stop."

Only when Fai had downed a decent portion of water did he toss the clothes over. Kurogane watched as Fai pulled his shirt and underwear on.

"Those bruises."

Fai tensed, looked up. "What bruises?"

He sighed gustily through his nose, yanked Fai over by his arm and sat him in his lap, facing away. "These."

Kurogane pressed a firm finger against his tailbone. Fai jerked and yelped. "Ow! What are you doing—"

He held the idiot down with an arm around his waist, slid his hand further down. "Were you waiting for me to discover this?"

He'd grown up learning to massage bruises so they healed faster. Fai made a little strangled noise in his throat when Kurogane rubbed him gently. This wasn't sex, though, but Fai stiffened all the same, didn't make a single noise.

"You seemed to know something about the bruises on the kids," he added after a while. At this, the blond set his palms on Kurogane's knees, ready to heave himself away.

"I know just as much as you do, Kuro-pon."

"You're lying."

Fai's smile, when he turned around, was big and bright. Kurogane sighed, pulled his hands off. "You aren't all that truthful yourself, Kuro-rin." Fai looked away. Quietly, "you promised."

Just like that, the air between them shifted. Kurogane gulped. "What do you want?"

Fai licked his lips, fingers curled around the soft material of his pants. Carefully, Kurogane set his hands on the wizard's waist, brushed fingers past the hem of his shirt. Fai shivered, leaned back a little.

This wasn't the right time for anything, but he remembered the _hot_ and _wet_ from last night, and it sent a rush of blood south.

A branch snapped.

Fai scooted out of Kurogane's lap so fast he tripped and landed on all fours, and Kurogane's eyes fell to the curve of his ass. It didn't help.

This was how Sakura found them when she stepped around the juniper tree; Kurogane still staring at Fai's ass, and Fai struggling to pull his pants on.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura gasped, backing out of sight the moment she saw them. "I was just here to bring water, and, um, I'm glad you're feeling better, Fai-san!"

"I'm sorry about earlier, Sakura-chan," the wizard said, hurrying to the mouth of the crevice the moment he found his footing, shrugging his cloak on. "I was just getting dressed—it's hot here, isn't it?"

Kurogane blew out a long breath, collected the blanket and bottles of water. He hadn't expected the girl to show up suddenly, but he'd been distracted by Fai. Again. He caught up with the pair, listened in when Sakura told the wizard about the cooked meat waiting for them. She turned to Kurogane next and beamed. "Syaoran-kun has been showing me more of the kata. Is that okay?"

He gave a slight nod. "Yeah, sure. Show me what he taught you later."

Fai turned and smiled, reaching up to pat him on the head. "Kuro-ron really deserves an award for being the best father!"

Sakura flushed; Kurogane tried to deck him. The wizard slipped away with a delighted laugh.

They wove through the rock walls back to the temporary campsite, where a yellow fire was burning in a circle of stones. Mokona was sitting alone by the roasting snake pieces, talking to Yuuko through her circular projection. Kurogane blinked.

Yuuko turned her gaze on them when they approached. Sakura and Fai greeted her cheerfully; Kurogane folded his arms, kept his mouth shut. Sure, he wanted to buy something from her, but that didn't mean he had to act like they were friends.

"Good to see that you've recovered, Fai," Yuuko said, her voice slightly tinny. "And Kurogane—ungracious as usual."

"Tch. Where's the kid?" He did a quick sweep of the sparse campsite, found no sign of the boy.

"Syaoran-kun said he'd go look for water," Sakura answered, turning to him. "I volunteered to go with him, but he said to keep the fire going for you and Fai-san."

"And Mokona needs to be around so everybody can talk to each other," the white thing said. "Fai! Mokona is happy that Fai is awake!"

The wizard swooped down to hug Mokona. Kurogane stood away from the ensuing conversation. He would talk to the witch in private later.

When Yuuko's connection ended, he turned to Sakura. "Did you eat?"

She shook her head. "I was waiting for you and Fai-san. Syaoran-kun said the snake meat is delicious, though!"

"It smells good!" Mokona chimed. She hopped onto a rock to pull a skewer out, and her piece of meat disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Don't eat it all," Kurogane told her, settling down by the fire to sample a piece. It smelled like smoked meat, and his mouth watered. Breakfast was hours ago; he'd spent some of his time by Fai's side thinking about food. The meat itself looked decent—Syaoran had flipped the skewers so they cooked evenly, and it was firm between his teeth. He reached out for another slice.

"Snake?" Fai pulled a face. He sat down next to Kurogane, however, thin fingers pulling a skewer out of the fire pit.

"Thought you eat your snakes whole," Kurogane said. After all that dried food, warm, fresh meat tasted very good on his tongue.

"That is different, Kuro-pon." The wizard shuddered. He turned his piece of meat over, sniffing at it. "They look slippery. And slimy."

On his other side, Sakura bit into a slice. "It tastes like chicken! And it's delicious, Kurogane-san!"

Kurogane nodded at the princess. "Even she likes it."

"But Sakura-chan liked the raw fish in that other world." Fai winced, turned his skewer again. His stomach rumbled.

Kurogane rolled his eyes and polished off his second slice of snake. On the other side of the campfire, Mokona was steadily depleting their supply. "The white thing is gonna finish all of it if you don't start eating."

Fai grimaced, peeled his lips back, and bit gingerly into the edge of white meat. He chewed and swallowed, and the wince eased off his face. "It's bland."

Kurogane reached over to tap the side of his head. "Eat it and find something else to complain about."

By the time Fai finished his slab of meat, Kurogane had eaten three, and the princess had had two. Kurogane swatted Mokona away from the remaining pieces.

"Did the kid have enough? We gonna save some for him?"

"Syaoran-kun said he'd had enough," Sakura answered with a burp. She flushed. "What about you, Fai-san?"

The blond shook his head violently. "That's enough. It tasted funny. Maybe Kuro-pon should hunt some rabbit instead."

Kurogane angled a punch at him; Fai rolled away. "Go hunt for food yourself."

It was late afternoon in this world. The shadows were drawing longer, and the sky was turning a darker yellow-blue on one side. Kurogane stood up to survey the wash. The water had gone down somewhat, exposing the top of the car hood. He had no idea how much water had got into the engine at this point, however, and he was reluctant to step into the fish-infested waters. Were they waiting until the wash had completely dried?

"When did the kid say he'll be back?" he asked the princess. He didn't sense the boy anywhere nearby, and he'd be damned if they had to go rescue him somehow. At least Syaoran had brought his sword along. "Also, when did he leave?"

Sakura looked up. She was sitting next to Fai, copying his moves—legs straight, hands reaching out to touch her toes. "He left when I went to check on you and Fai-san the second time. So... not too long ago. He said he'd be back in an hour or two."

"Huh." Kurogane looked at the sky again. There were possibly two hours before sunset. They hadn't much water left, though; the kid was right. Fai's recovery had depleted some of their water, and there were three bottles remaining. Kurogane could only assume that Syaoran had taken a bottle with him. The rest of their water supply was on the car roof, in that plastic drum they'd left behind.

At least they still had water within reach, and there was no need to start collecting it with bowls and plates and that sort of thing.

"Kuro-wan, are you going to do some stretches with us?" Fai beamed up at him. He was on his front, now, propping his torso up on his arms as he leaned back. The princess was almost as flexible as the wizard was. She did the same exercise with ease, and Fai was enthusiastic in his approval.

"I'm going to get more firewood," Kurogane said, turning away to locate Mokona. "Oi, meat bun. Come with me."

"Whee!" she cheered, bounding up onto his shoulder as he crossed to the far end of their campsite. "Kuro-rin gives Mokona a ride!"

"Yeah, whatever." It was the perfect opportunity, he figured, both to scout around for the boy, as well as to find a secluded spot to talk to the witch. "You weren't hurt when you got lost?"

"Nope," she sang. The white thing did a waddling dance across his shoulders, fell into the hood of his cloak with a squeal. "Kuro-tan is Mokona's playground!"

It was strange, how she was like a child but younger than the kids. Or she was like a cross between Fai and Sakura. She was an innocent like the princess, crafty like the wizard, and she had learned a great many things since they'd all met at the witch's shop. He hadn't seen anything like her before. Had Fai? Was Fai capable of creating creatures like Mokona?

He wandered down into the lower reaches of the canyon, snapping twigs off dry shrubs when he came across them. The canyon was like a maze. Kurogane had faith in the boy, however—he had a good head on his shoulders, and he would know to leave markings of some sort to guide himself back.

The lack of markings on his path didn't disturb the warrior. There were a number of entrances to start off from, and Syaoran could have picked any one of them.

Kurogane stopped when they reached a spot where Mokona's monologue didn't seem to echo as much as it did elsewhere. They were on a rounded red boulder, half-covered with tiny plants and the roots of a sprawling juniper. He remained standing, asked, "is the witch free to talk right now?"

Mokona paused on his shoulder, cocked her head up at him. "Kurogane wants to talk to Yuuko?"

"Yeah."

He watched as the gem on her head glowed into a red beam, which stretched into the wide circle of a window. Beyond that was the witch, and a wood-and-paper screen similar to the ones in Nihon. Yuuko turned to look at him, sleek eyebrows lifting in surprise.

"Kurogane. It hasn't been two minutes since I saw you."

"Tch. It's been half an hour here." He glanced around, wondered if his voice would somehow carry to the other parts of his traveling group.

When he didn't say anything else, Yuuko leaned forward. "Mokona, go to sleep for a while."

The white thing nodded, and just as soon curled up on Kurogane's shoulder. He frowned at her, took her in his hand in case she rolled off, and sat down on a gnarly grey root.

"You seemed to want privacy," Yuuko said when he looked back. He shrugged. "What is it?"

"It's about that wizard." Maybe he was wary, talking about Fai to someone like Yuuko. But Mokona trusted in this woman, and she hadn't done them injustice so far.

"Fai? What about him?"

"I want a protective charm for him. Sort of like the thing on my forehead."

Yuuko raised her eyebrows, did not comment. "Oh?"

"He isn't going to protect himself. So, someone has to look out for him."

"And your solution is a charm?"

"I can't guard him every second of the day. So yeah, a charm."

Yuuko studied him carefully, wry twist to her red lips. "The artifact we're talking about is magical. Fai is a wizard. He has the power to destroy a charm the moment it lands on him."

"Even a strong one?"

The witch's smile fell away. "Are you sure you want this, Kurogane?"

He narrowed his eyes. "What's the catch?"

"There is a price on this charm."

"I know that. What is it?"

"Your left arm, and the flesh off your back."

For a long breath, he stared at her, looked down at his arm. "Why?"

"You do not question the price. Are you sure you want this?"

He hesitated, studied the smooth, pale line on his palm. Without his arm, he would have to relearn his techniques and balance. He would be sacrificing his response speed and the safety of the kids, all for something Fai could possibly remove from himself.

It didn't seem to be worth it. He didn't even know if Fai would ever need that powerful a charm. If it was powerful at all. And Fai would run if he learned what Kurogane paid for his protection.

Kurogane swallowed, looked away. Maybe there could be a different solution. "He has a phoenix on his back," he said. "If— If he ever wants a charm for it, at any point. Is there a way you can include a protection spell in that? Without him knowing?"

"It will not be the strongest charm," Yuuko conceded. "But that can be done if Fai wants the spell of his own accord. The price will not be the same."

He nodded. "I will pay it then."

"Very well. I'll speak with you again, Kurogane." Yuuko looked solemnly at him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, she in her simple blouse and tied-up hair. He hoped she felt the same about him. "Choose your battles wisely. That is all I can say."

He didn't know what the hell she meant, so he ignored it, waited for Mokona to wake up after the projection faded. The white lump stirred when he prodded her belly with a finger, smiling up at him. "Did Kuro-pon have a good talk with Yuuko?"

Kurogane shrugged.

"Yuuko says clever things," Mokona told him. "But she says simple things to Mokona."

"Yeah, well, the witch talks in riddles to me." He picked his firewood up, stretched his senses out for Syaoran. Nothing.

"That means Kuro-pon still has lots of learning to do!" the white thing chirped, bouncing onto his head. "Kuro-pon should go to school."

"The hell."

Mokona giggled, slid into the hood of his cloak, and he sighed, picking his way back where he came from. He wanted to see how far Fai had got in teaching the princess. The wizard didn't need help with that, at least.

* * *

Syaoran glanced up at the sky. Past the scaly, finger-like leaves of the juniper trees, and past the red, stony lip of the cliff faces, the sky was rapidly turning a royal blue. It was late. He hadn't thought he'd spent that long tracking the creek, but apparently he had. The plastic bottles he'd brought with him rattled hollowly in the hood of his cloak.

He frowned, set a foot down on a lower rock, one hand on the rough wall of a cliff. Next to him, far below, a shallow creek ran through the rocky slope, bordered on both sides by shrubs and crooked trees. It signaled a water source, and so far, whatever rock he'd found was damp on the underside—evidence of the rainfall last night. He was confident that if he followed the creek all the way to its end, he would end up at an oasis or a river, and there would be water for all of their bottles.

He couldn't wait for the gleam of pride in the princess's eyes again, the approving hand Kurogane set on his head, and Fai's bubbly praise. Sakura's smile was what kept him going deeper into the ravine, step after shaky step, and he still had water left in his bottle to sustain him through the trip back. All he needed was to get to the bottom of this place first.

Syaoran wasn't afraid of travelling alone. His father had brought him on archaeological digs many a time, and had trusted Syaoran to mind himself while he was gone. Syaoran knew to keep his eyes and ears open, to test the give of rocks before he put his entire weight on them. He knew to listen out for predators, to note food and water sources in case he needed them.

So, he knew he could care for himself in a desert. This was fine, if a little lonely, after he'd spent days and months with the princess and the rest of their traveling group.

It was also sort of calming, if he were perfectly honest with himself. Things had been very awkward last night. Kurogane had set the example of wringing his clothes dry, and Sakura had followed without much care for her modesty.

Syaoran knew it was the perfectly logical thing to do, to dry one's clothes before the chill set in. And yet. The princess didn't have all her memories back yet, so it was up to him not to look if she exposed more than she should. He remembered the brief flash of her smooth legs, paused to squeeze his eyes shut. This wasn't something he needed to remember.

It had grown worse when Kurogane motioned for him to move, because his pants had got kind of tight and he didn't want anyone to see.

Shara had been a hundred times more embarrassing. In a city with only womenfolk, there had been lapses in privacy that Syaoran had not expected. Karen's people had dressed him up, and with the rest of the troupe blissfully unaware that he was actually male, he had been offered glimpses into places that made his face burn.

There were the changing rooms, where women pulled shirts off their chests and stepped into form-fitting costumes. There had been the bathing areas, where women wrapped themselves in towels (and _only_ towels) and he'd seen someone stepping _out_ of her towel. (He'd whipped his head away, but the sheer expanse of skin had been burned into his head.) Then there had been the sleeping quarters, where some women wore modest garments, and others wore sheer chemises that hid absolutely nothing, and the princess blushed and murmured at how pretty they were.

(And then the ladies had dressed Sakura, and he'd turned to look at the most inopportune time. Her back was smooth and flawless, and so very beautiful.)

Syaoran had been in a state of perpetual arousal that he'd never hated as much as when he was in Shura.

He was thankful for the puffy skirts they'd put him in, because they hid far more than he could stand the women to see otherwise.

The second time they landed in Shara, he had tried to broach the topic with Fai. He hadn't known how to begin, though. He'd got as far as _Fai-shen, have you seen people who look really good,_ and the wizard had promptly turned to Kurogane and repeated the question.

"Kuro-zif," Syaoran said to himself, voice high and stretched thin like Fai's. "Have you come across anyone who looks really, really good? Like you want to _eat_ them?"

Kurogane had sent a dark look at Fai, glanced at Syaoran, and snapped a resolute _No, you idiot_.

"But Kuro-sey," Syaoran muttered, "surely there has to be someone. You've eaten a lot of people. You're _big_."

What Fai said and what he did didn't always match up, and Syaoran knew that it irked Kurogane to no end. Sakura had said that Fai had some things he needed to work out. It seemed to be the case—sometimes Fai smiled like he had a stomachache.

Syaoran felt a stab of guilt, right after, for parroting Fai's words. Sakura had said, gently, that people did the best they could. Yukito had told her that. He saw the way Kurogane looked at Fai, steady and brooding, and the way Fai glanced back occasionally. They had been doing that ever since Shura. While Syaoran still couldn't grasp the six months that he'd missed, it seemed to be a big deal for the two men.

Then Fai had fainted, and it was one of the only times Syaoran had ever seen his mentor pale. Kurogane hadn't even looked at him when he rushed Fai off. Syaoran had been worried, too—dehydration in the desert was no laughing matter—but Sakura had reported that Fai was doing better, so Syaoran took the time to show her the kata that Kurogane had taught him.

Sakura had whispered that she was sure Kurogane and Fai had kissed. From the sounds he'd heard, and that comic Mokona had shown them, he was positive there was more, but he didn't really want to tell the princess that. Then they had talked about snakes in the car. He could hear Kurogane's voice in his head telling him it was none of his business. And it really was.

Syaoran remembered King Touya and High Priest Yukito, how their souls kept appearing together in some worlds. For how much Touya disliked him, he liked Yukito a great deal. They had something like what Kurogane had with Fai, except Kurogane was far more inclined to hit Fai over the head.

Sakura had suggested that they leave Kurogane and Fai alone when it looked as though they had things to say to each other. It sounded like a good idea. He desperately wanted to be good friends with her again, wished he had six months alone with the princess. Teaching her the kata was a step in the right direction.

Syaoran blinked when spots appeared at the edges of his vision. He paused in his descent, one hand wrapped around a protruding rock, and tried blinking it away. It didn't work, however. The spots grew larger. There was a strange sort of roiling in his stomach.

The nausea, when it hit, was swift and overwhelming. He clutched at his middle, wobbled, crouched so he didn't lose his balance. His fingers scrabbled over rock. Had he eaten something bad?

His foot slipped; Syaoran gasped when he lost his balance and landed hard on his butt, stars blinking across his vision. A bottle bounced onto the dry, rocky creek and clattered down the slope, hollow plastic thunks echoing through the ravine.

A growing pain jabbed in his stomach. Syaoran pressed down on it, leaned his back against the cliff face so he wouldn't fall, and closed his eyes. It didn't help. He really should have brought Mokona along—she had some medicines in storage.

His head swam. His stomach lurched. He leaned forward suddenly, emptied part of his lunch onto smooth rock. Was it the snake? Had Sakura eaten it too?

He wobbled, trying to find his balance, and his hands caught on loose pebble.

Syaoran gave a strangled cry when his weight shifted and his vision grew dark. He was rolling down the slope suddenly, bumping his head and back and a whole slew of other places. Branches caught in his clothes; he smashed his elbow against rock, and something poked sharp across his cheek.

The spinning in his head didn't abate when he finally came to a stop. He was still nauseous, and he pushed his forehead to cool rock, willing the dizziness to go away. It didn't.

He found himself in a shadowy part of the ravine, splayed across bumpy rock. Next to him, a thin, silky creek flowed over tiny stones. Syaoran squinted, trying to see if the water was any good.

A shadow moved some paces away, behind a boulder.

He froze immediately, straining his eyes to see before he remembered to shut them instead. He reached his senses out. It was a huge creature that walked on all fours, and it moved slowly.

Syaoran wanted to scrabble away. There wasn't any strength left in his muscles, however, and his stomach squeezed again. At this rate, he couldn't move any distance at all before it caught up.

The shadow shuffled closer.

He closed his eyes and held his breath, hoping it would leave him alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, this entire fic is 70k words of OH NO and at the very end is our long-awaited smut, soooo. Good luck, everybody. LOL Ratings will be bumped up to M when we hit the last chapter. Any idea what Kurogane should pay for a protection spell? He owes Yuuko for his Nihon clothes already. He owes her so much. LOL
> 
> So... I might have neglected to mention that this thing has a total of 10 chapters. After which we'll take a short break while I post my modern-world KuroFai AU. (Currently 16k words, unsure if I should split it into 2 or more parts.)


	9. A Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter comes with a **content warning for vomit**. Just so you know.

Syaoran had taught Sakura the next five kata in the series. Kurogane had been pleasantly surprised when he'd found out. Then, he'd been stunned when the princess executed the first three kata he'd taught her perfectly, and the five new ones with decent form. She was still using the dagger from Mokona's storage. In the glow of the evening campfire, she wore a light frown, and he remembered that she still had an infection. Whether it was worse than before, he could only guess.

When they stopped for a break, he stepped up to her with a bottle of water. "Rest for a bit. What else did you learn?"

She beamed at him, frown easing some. He accepted the bottle from her when she was done, drank a mouthful, and waved her to the front of the campfire. "I've learned only those kata, but Fai-san went through all his stretches with me, and he taught me how to sense people."

"Huh." Kurogane hadn't thought about Fai teaching the princess to sense the presences of other people. He'd figured that he would start on that the next time he had the chance.

"He said the most important thing in self-defense is knowing where everyone is in relation to me. Like listening out for them with my body."

Kurogane frowned. His own sensing took place in his head, in the prickle on his nape. "With your body?"

She nodded. "If I close my eyes, I can... feel the warmth of people. For example, you're right next to me. And there are others, over there."

Sakura waved at a juniper tree.

"I don't sense anyone there."

"I do," she said serenely. "They're spirits."

"You can see spirits." Kurogane stilled, felt hot and cold at the same time. It wasn't something they talked about often, and he hadn't really the chance or opportunity to investigate it before. "Who are they?"

The princess looked back at him. "People from this world. I don't know them, but they seem friendly."

"Have you seen people from other worlds?" The words were falling from his mouth before he thought to stop himself.

She shook her head, frowned. "Very rarely. But I'll tell you when I see them, if you want me to."

Kurogane wasn't about to give her details right now, so he nodded mutely. "Okay. Thanks." When she continued to look expectantly at him, he asked, "how do you know they're spirits?"

"They're cold. Living people are warm. People with magic, like Fai-san, they have smells too."

He leaned closer, curious. "What does he smell like to you?"

"Like a spice," she answered. "Kind of sweet?"

"Cinnamon?"

"I think that's it." Sakura's face lit up. "You can smell him too?"

Kurogane shrugged, glanced over at the wizard, who had his nose buried in his notebook again. "Not all the time. My mother was a priestess."

The princess nodded, smiling. As if the idiot could sense their gazes, he looked up, waved cheerily at Sakura. She waved back. "Fai-san taught me about the weak points on the body as well. But he says I need training before I can use them to my advantage."

"Yeah, he's right. Which parts are they?"

"Fai-san said the nose is fragile, and so is the throat. I can use my forehead as self-defense." At his nod, she continued, "then there's the eyes, the stomach, and the groin."

"Also their fingers and knees," Kurogane said. "Bend their fingers back, or kick them in the knee."

Sakura nodded. "He said to catch them off-guard, too. Like what he did with you yesterday."

He snorted, but acknowledged it with a nod. "Yeah. I don't care if you use dirty moves in self-defense. The mage would be better at cheating though."

"Surely they aren't dirty moves if they help a person get out of a situation."

Kurogane shrugged, added a handful of twigs to the fire. "They're called dirty moves because hitting below the belt isn't honorable." He paused, barked a laugh, and said loudly, "if you have to practice kneeing someone's groin, do that to the wizard."

"I heard that, Kuro-pon," Fai called, looking up from his notebook. "Sakura-chan, the big black dog can take some hits, don't you worry about that."

Sakura glanced between them with a grimace.

"They're really only effective on men though. Or boys," Kurogane said, ignoring the blond. "Our body structures are different. The thing is to cause them as much pain as you can, and use the distraction to run away."

"But they'll be in pain," the princess said.

Kurogane shrugged. "Sometimes, it's either you or them. The kid, the mage and I would much rather you be unhurt. You understand?"

Sakura glanced down thoughtfully. "Okay."

He looked around the camp again. There was still no sign of the boy. "The kid said he'd be back in two hours, right? It's been almost three."

"We should look for him," Fai said. He got to his feet, tucked his notebook away, and walked over. There were lines around his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm all for that. Better to fly though." Kurogane looked around for their piles of blankets, watching as Sakura frowned up at Fai.

"But your magic," she said.

"I shouldn't use any more of it." Fai glanced away, rubbed his arms. There was quite a bit of his magic in this world, now. Would Ashura come? He wouldn't, if he was still not awake. That Chii person would tell Fai if he were. And Fai would probably be a lot more worried for it.

"We could trade with Yuuko-san for something we can ride," Sakura suggested.

"We do have some things with Mokona that are valuable," the wizard agreed, looking at the white lump dancing around the fire.

"What about—" Kurogane paused when a dark spot flickered in his vision and winked out. He blinked. More spots burst across his eyes, like fireworks, and disappeared again. He shook his head. It felt like there was a growing rock sitting on his brain, getting larger by the moment.

"What's wrong?" Fai came forward, crouched down in front of him with a frown, at the same time his gut lurched. "Kuro-pon?"

He threw himself to his feet, stumbling a few paces away before violently emptying his stomach. _What—_ His head swam, and he fell to his knees, trying to stop the whirling.

"Kuro-sama?" Fai hurried over, trailed by Sakura and Mokona, but Kurogane wasn't in any mood to respond. He shook his head slowly, gritted his teeth at the way his stomach felt way more bloated than it should, and turned to retch again. "Sakura-chan, get some water."

There was a muffled thump. Kurogane turned to see that Sakura had tripped, falling flat on her front. Not her, too? He wiped his mouth off, got to his feet, and promptly wobbled.

"I don't feel so good," the princess mumbled, one hand on her stomach. Fai had hurried to her side, carefully turning her over.

"It'll be okay," Fai soothed, rubbing her back. She looked greenish though, and her eyelids fluttered like she couldn't see clearly, either.

"Get some water," Kurogane rasped, turning to spit the foul taste from his mouth.

Fai rushed away and back. He shoved a full bottle into Kurogane's hand. "We're on our last two bottles, now. Mokona, do you have any water in storage?"

The white thing spat some cans out. Kurogane watched hazily while Fai clunked them down and hurried back to Sakura, who was swallowing repeatedly, as if she was trying her best not to vomit.

"You'll feel better if you let it out now," Fai told her, pulling her to her feet and guiding her to a clump of grass. He had a blanket under his arm.

The wizard stayed by her, stroking her back, and Kurogane saw the tight line of his mouth. He sat up, shook his head. The sooner he purged his stomach, the less the food in there would affect him. He turned back, heaved, and winced at the smell. The princess retched, too, into the bushes. Fai held the hair away from her face, but he was starting to look sick, too.

The wizard reached down to hold an arm to his belly.

"'S the snake," Kurogane muttered. They'd all eaten it.

Fai turned to him, horror written stark through his face. "Syaoran-kun, he's still out there. He ate that first."

"We'll find him," Kurogane said, getting to his feet. He was still unsteady, though, and his vision went black for a moment. He stumbled. Fai looked up at him, blue eyes wide. The princess heaved again; the wizard turned, wiped her mouth with the corner of a blanket. Vaguely, he heard Fai asking Sakura if she was fine (which was utter crap because who'd be fine like that?) and patting her back.

Thin hands came up around his waist. Fai directed him to a cleaner patch of ground, sat him down. Kurogane shook his head again.

"We'll have to go soon. No knowing whether he hit his head," he said fuzzily.

"I know," Fai said. He looked green, though, and he clutched his stomach suddenly, face going tight with discomfort.

"Puke. It has to happen sooner or later," Kurogane told him.

Fai did, with an ugly noise, and Kurogane was hit with the smell again, the same one that turned his stomach against him. He twisted away, emptied what he could onto the ground next to him. Steps away, Sakura followed suit.

For a long stretch, the three of them were throwing up, one triggering another, and Kurogane got weakly to his feet when they'd rinsed their mouths, pulling Fai over to Sakura. The princess had fainted, sprawled across the rocky ground, narrowly missing what she'd thrown up. "Need to move away," he slurred. "Or we'll keep puking."

Between them, they dragged the princess behind a tree, sitting heavily down on either side of her. Mokona hopped after, carrying bottles of drinks, but Kurogane didn't think he had the stomach for any of that right now. He could hardly keep his head clear. His vision was blinking black for longer periods at a time, and he had no way of righting it.

"The kid," he told Fai, who glanced over blearily, struggling to keep his own eyes open.

"We'll get him," Fai mumbled. He looked like he was about to say more, but he tipped and slumped onto Sakura. Kurogane pulled the princess closer to himself, shook his head again.

He thought he saw Mokona with a circular projection in front of her, but his eyes would not focus, and his vision turned dark.

* * *

When he woke, there was a crackling yellow fire in front of them. A blanket had been draped across his chest. The juniper was dark above him, and the chilly desert was otherwise silent. Shadows loomed all around; it was night. He had no idea how long he'd been out for.

"You're awake," Fai said tiredly next to the campfire, jabbing it with a stick.

Kurogane shook himself awake, felt the residual bloatedness in his stomach. The inside of his mouth tasted nasty. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"I figured as much." Fai poked at the fire again, sending a breath of yellow sparks into the air. "I hope Syaoran-kun is all right."

"You haven't gone to look for him?" Kurogane frowned, rubbed his eyes. He didn't feel at all rested. His limbs were aching, and his entire body felt fragile. The princess was still lying on him, unconscious.

"I don't have the strength to walk very far right now, Kuro-rin." The wizard turned to look at him; he saw dark shadows under blue eyes. "It took a lot out of me just walking over to drag our firewood here."

"What about the white thing?" He cast around for Mokona, blinked when she bounded up with a soda can. He wasn't in a position to argue about the sort of food she brought right now, so he took it with a mutter of thanks.

"Mokona helped!" she cried, waving her paws. "Mokona was worried about everyone! Yuuko said everyone will be fine."

"Mokona purchased our transportation, in case you were wondering," Fai told him dryly, and nodded at a roll of _something_ to the side, on the edge of the firelight.

"Really?" Kurogane leaned forward, squinting at the cylinder. It was something with a bunch of tassels on one end, he realized. "The hell is that?"

"A magic carpet," she chirped. "But we have to return it right after we finish using it."

He blinked slowly, thinking about the blankets that Fai had been enchanting through this journey. "Wait. Wait. If we bought something from her... what did we pay?"

"Fuel. The spare tank on the car. Plus some other parts. Maybe the engine." Fai glanced in the direction of the wash. "I'm surprised that she got through the water unscathed. Then again, Mokona is magic."

"Mokona is amazing," the white thing agreed.

"We have water now, too. Mokona took the water drum while she was there." Fai attempted a bright smile at her. "You're very clever, Mokona!"

"Mokona is very clever!"

Kurogane sighed, tossed the can over to Fai. He didn't like the thought of leaving the car behind, but it wasn't like they could get it out of the mud or water right now. And it was without parts it probably needed to work. "Have any water?"

Fai tossed a fresh bottle back. "We need to leave soon. I don't want to leave Syaoran out there for too long. We don't know if he's okay, especially if he's all by himself."

Kurogane leaned the princess against the tree and tried getting to his feet, swearing when his legs gave out beneath him. Fai cracked a thin smile.

He pulled himself forward on his arms instead. The strain of muscles reminded him of the earlier conversation with the witch, about Fai's charm, and the price he would have to pay. If he were to lose an arm at any point, he didn't want to be caught unprepared. He needed to train.

"Have you made things with your magic?" he blurted, shuffling forward on his hands and knees. "Like that white thing."

Fai looked away, shrugged. Mokona waddled over with her ears pricked up. "Has Fai?" she asked. "Can Fai make a Mokona?"

"It's a complicated process, you know. Lots of things can go wrong," he said, pulled the tab on the drink can. "Mmm, this is sweet."

"It's just sugar," Kurogane said. Fai angled a smile at him, one of those crafty ones that had him narrowing his eyes. "So have you made one, or not?"

"I've just dabbled in magic, Kuro-pon. So no." Kurogane watched the bob of his Adam's apple. "You should try this. It's good."

"Hell no. It'll rot my teeth." He glanced at the carpet again. It had intricate patterns on it, dots and curling lines in a style he'd never seen before, and it looked like it'd taken a lot of time to make. "So we're traveling with the witch's magic?"

"Mokona thinks the carpet is something Yuuko collected." The white thing hopped up onto Fai's lap; Fai handed the can to her.

"It'll be easier on you, then. If we buy things with magic instead of using yours."

Mokona tipped the rest of the can into her mouth, nodding. "Yuuko has lots of things. We can buy them if we have the right things to pay with."

Fai had reached up, pushing his fingers past the neckline of his cloak. "Maybe," he said.

Perhaps that was all he needed to get Fai thinking about his tattoo. Fai was touching it now; Kurogane felt his hopes flare like orange fire, pulled a deep breath. Perhaps the witch could give the tattoo whatever it was lacking. Perhaps all he needed to do was bide his time.

"Are you strong enough to stand now?" Kurogane asked. He tried again, stretching his legs out. They wobbled when he stood. He did cross the few feet to the carpet, however, and unrolled it some distance away from the fire. Spread out, he realized that the carpet had gold tassels on all its edges, and the patterns on it were a deep red-brown, embroidered with gold. It looked expensive. "Looks like it'll fit all of us."

"Kuro-daddy to the rescue," Fai cheered. He gathered the full bottles of water lined up next to him. "Mokona, will you store all of these?"

Kurogane headed over to the princess, slipping his arms beneath her. He still didn't have the strength to lift her yet, though. Was this what it'd be like if he killed more people and the curse on his forehead activated? She was aggravatingly difficult to lift, and his legs would not cooperate. "Hey, come over here and help," he said.

Fai turned. His face was partly cloaked in shadow when he studied them, and it was another beat before he agreed. "Okay. But only to make sure you don't drop her."

He rolled his eyes, waited while Fai pushed himself up. The wizard was no better at standing. He looked pale in the firelight, toddling over to scoop Sakura up from her other side. Bony hands pressed firm against Kurogane's forearms. On a count of three, they lifted her up, shuffling over to the carpet to lay her down.

"Don't drop her on her head, Kuro-pon." Fai wasn't looking at him, but his mouth had pulled into a tiny smile.

"I'm not an idiot, you idiot."

"Kuro-rin is mean to me."

Kurogane snorted. All the same, the moment ended too soon, when Sakura was safely in the middle of the blanket and they pulled their arms away, kneeling on either side of her like the warriors sworn to protect a princess. Which they kind of were. Her eyelids fluttered open; Fai caught his breath, leaned in.

"Sakura-chan! How are you feeling?"

"Tch. Let her recover first," Kurogane said. He scanned the campsite for anything of value, found none. "She says she sees spirits around though. Maybe her spirit friends can help look for the kid."

Sakura greeted them softly. Mokona hopped onto her chest; Fai helped the princess up and handed her an open bottle of water, taking it back when she'd had a sip.

"We'll have to go look for Syaoran-kun now, Sakura-chan. Is it okay if you come along with us?"

Sakura looked crestfallen. "Syaoran-kun isn't back yet?"

Fai grimaced, returned the bottle to Mokona, and swathed the princess in layers of blankets. "Kuro-pi says you might know how to find him."

Kurogane met her eyes; she nodded, lifted her arm beneath all her layers of insulation. "Yeah. They're pointing us in that direction."

Fai stared at the princess, and at the empty spot she was looking at. He looked a little haunted then, but Kurogane knew not to ask, when there were people that he wasn't sure he was ready to see again. "She says the spirits are from this world. Sometimes they're from other worlds."

"Is that true, Sakura-chan?" Fai had pressed his mouth together. In that moment, he looked very, very tired.

The girl nodded. "Would you like me to tell you if they're from another world?"

The wizard opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He blinked, tried on an ill-fitting smile, and shook his head. "No, I don't think so. There isn't anyone who would want to see me, you know. I'm not very important at all."

Which meant he was someone important, because Fai was a liar and he didn't think anything of himself.

Kurogane sighed, knocked him lightly on the head. "Come on. Let's go find the kid."

They piled onto the blanket. Mokona stored the rest of their unused firewood, and Kurogane kicked sand onto the fire they had going, throwing them into darkness. Then he climbed onto the floating carpet, and they were off.

The carpet was far sturdier than any of the blankets Fai had charmed. Kurogane figured he shouldn't be surprised, when Fai didn't have the luxury of time or magic on the occasions he made the blankets fly. Sakura was still pointing out their direction, and Fai had a hand on the far edge of the blanket. The moon tonight was brighter. It made the canyons below them easier to comprehend, when they resembled a map instead of something he could only try to visualize in his head.

"You can still see them now?" he asked the princess.

She nodded. "They're translucent, but they're very friendly. There's not many people here though."

He wondered if any of the spirits were malevolent. The princess was still whole and intact, and she was lucky, besides, so Kurogane figured that the bad ones had to be fond of her as well. Could they harm her? "How are you flying the carpet?" he asked the wizard. "How do you even control this thing?"

Fai blinked and looked over, and a faint slyness crept over his features. "I tell the carpet what to do, Kuro-tan. It's as simple as that."

"How?"

"With my heart. The carpet and I have connected our souls." Fai was grinning now, needlessly amused, and Kurogane wished he had more strength to knock some sense into his head. "Sakura-chan, why don't you fly?" At her look of surprise, Fai motioned for her to grasp the blanket. "Here, hold it. I think you'll know how to."

Kurogane watched on as the princess did just that. They turned slightly westwards, then east, and the princess jerked her eyes back at Fai. "It listens to me!"

"So fly it," Fai told her fondly, ruffling her hair. "Kuro-rin, you'll need to hang on tight. Sakura-chan flies very well."

He barely had time to wrap his fingers around the edge of the carpet, grabbing on to the white lump, before they were accelerating, flying down close to the canyons. It was like riding on the blanket with Fai that first night, when Fai had rushed them over the desert, wind whipping their hair every which way. "How did you learn?"

"Fai-san let me control the blanket earlier," she answered, her dull eyes sparkling. She didn't look as ill as she had, now, but she had to be still unwell. Kurogane wasn't even feeling anywhere close to recovered.

He stretched an arm out behind the princess, to catch her in case she was blown backwards somehow.

There was already an arm there. Fai glanced over, eyebrows raised, and Kurogane frowned, looked away. He didn't pull his hand away from the small of Sakura's back, though, and his wrist was pressed snug against Fai's forearm. When he next glanced at the wizard, Fai was smiling softly to himself, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.

Sakura had them swooping down a moment later, in a way that made Kurogane's stomach flop nauseatingly. He grabbed on to Fai's wrist instead, kept his senses peeled for danger as they delved between the walls of the canyon.

"Slow down," he hissed over the wind howling in his ears.

She must have heard, because the carpet jerked beneath them, and the princess looked apologetically at him.

This close, he could feel the boy's presence... as well as a lot of other presences around him. But the boy was still alive, and that was what mattered. "He's fine. We don't have to run headlong into a fight."

"I can sense him too," Sakura whispered. Fai's smile was wide and full of relief.

The carpet slowed. They followed a rocky trail down into a narrow ravine, rounded twists and turns in the sandstone cliffs, until the stream below was joined by a wider creek, and there were steep, rocky slopes along the foot of the cliffs. Syaoran's life force came from deep within a cave. Fai took over the flying here, pulling his arm away from Sakura's back.

The cave entrance was a tiny opening in the rock face. Kurogane had to squeeze behind Sakura, while the wizard took the lead. They sat in single file; the blanket came up around their sides, so it felt like they were sitting in a tube of some sort.

"Kuro-rin, duck your head," Fai whispered. "I think you might be too tall."

They were silent when he inched the carpet into the cave. Kurogane saw the jagged edges of rocks in the tunnel, the low ceilings that could gouge holes into his scalp. Sakura turned to look behind—it had to be pitch-black to her—and he shrugged. The kids couldn't see in the dark.

This went on for minutes, their turns silent, until the tunnel opened out around them, and Kurogane could breathe more easily again.

Sounds had begun to echo through the tunnel. They were too muddled for him to make sense of them, but he was certain he could hear the boy's voice in the midst of it all, surrounded by a handful of chattering.

"The hell is that?" he muttered. Fai shrugged, glanced back at him.

"Guess we'll find out. Get ready to fight, Kuro-wan."

"Like you ever need to tell me that."

He wasn't feeling very much stronger, but the carpet ride had helped his stomach calm some, and though his limbs still felt leaden, he could move them. He would fight if it was the last thing he did.

The voices grew louder with each passing minute. At times, Fai paused before a split in the tunnel, going down one, then the other, trying to determine if it was the right path. They had to backtrack twice; the tunnels twisted more than they were straight, and they hardly went in the directions they seemed to at first.

Kurogane was more than ready for them to land so he could stretch his legs out, when the chatter hit them at full blast. It was a hundred creatures talking at the same time. He winced, scanned their surroundings, one hand on his sword.

Fai flew them to the mouth of the largest cavern they'd come across yet. It arched high above them, a circular room with stalagmites and stalactites scattered throughout. Little yellow lanterns dotted the walls. Syaoran was seated right in the middle, rings and rings of _things_ seated around him. There were perhaps a thousand creatures here, instead of a hundred, and Kurogane wondered if the boy had been trying to buy himself time so they wouldn't eat him.

"Syaoran-kun!" Fai called, waving.

In that instant, Kurogane felt the attention of all the creatures snap onto them. He grit his teeth, fingers tight on Souhi's handle. Without knowing what abilities they had, this might not have been the best idea, to barge in like that.

"It's fine!" Syaoran called, raising his hands. "Don't attack them! I was brought here, but these guys are really friendly!"

So they had worried, and it had been for nothing. Kurogane frowned, glanced at Fai, who was looking down at the boy with another soft grin. His heart kicked.

The carpet had straightened out; Sakura crawled to its edge, waving down at the kid. "Syaoran-kun! I'm so glad you're fine!"

"Why don't you come down here and meet them?" the boy called back. "They really mean no harm!"

As soon as they descended close enough, though, the mood of the creatures shifted. They had been pleasant and patient before, but Kurogane felt the sudden hunger, the sharp eyes that watched them. This close, he could see their large bodies, the way they shuffled, small, round heads and heavy paws. "Hey, mage."

Fai had felt it too. He shot a look at Kurogane, calm and calculating, and nodded toward Sakura. "Hold Sakura-chan."

Kurogane hauled the princess against himself. The carpet curled up around them again, and they were diving forward, to the very middle of the circle. Syaoran paled. He had got to his feet, wobbly, and stretched a hand up. The moment they neared him, the creatures surged forward as one, and Fai barely held onto the boy's hand. Sharp teeth snapped at his ankles. The carpet shot up into the air, above the cavern of creatures.

Fai had the blanket flatten out. His back was tight with the strain of the boy's weight, and Kurogane set the princess hurriedly aside, clambered forward to haul him up.

Syaoran fell onto the carpet with a gasp; Fai was panting and waving for them to get back in line behind him. "Hurry! They're moving!"

Things at the edges of the cavern were starting to stretch their limbs out. They were wings, Kurogane realized, tugging the boy closer. Sakura crawled behind Fai, Mokona in her hands.

The winged creatures were smaller in size, like bats. They lifted themselves off the cavern floor with heavy, slow flaps of their wings. Fai cursed, turned them around.

"Which tunnel did we come from?"

There were three round exits behind them, one wider than the other two. It looked far bigger than what they'd flown through, though—to accommodate the wingspan of those creatures.

"Just go, damn it!" Kurogane snapped.

Fai picked one and flew. The tunnel was dark, dank, and Kurogane immediately realized that it was the wrong one. There were things at the end of it that he would rather not have to face in his current condition. They were ominous, hungry, and putrid.

"It's the wrong one," Fai cried.

Kurogane looked back at the rapidly-diminishing exit. There were wings flapping in front of it now, preventing their escape. "Can't go back. Exit's blocked."

He had to duck suddenly, to avoid a sudden dip in the ceiling. Syaoran had his hands over Sakura's head. Kurogane had to shove the boy's head down, too. All he could see from this angle was Fai's fair hair, until the wizard made a sharp turn, and something red-eyed hissed at them from the side, snapping its jaws inches away.

It started to follow them.

"Can't you go any faster?" Kurogane said.

"I'm trying, Kuro-pon! The carpet has a speed limit!" Fai swerved again, and Kurogane felt his stomach lurch. There wasn't enough space in this tunnel to swing his sword; he couldn't even turn it around to point an attack backwards.

The creatures ahead were looming ever closer, their presences murky and oily, sort of like the worms pursuing them a day ago. "There's no other exits?"

"Not that I can see. Why don't you try steering this thing?" Fai swung the carpet sideways, so they were sitting horizontal for a moment, and something else skimmed past them, hissing.

Kurogane was barely ready for it when they emerged over a deep, yawning cavern, much wider and taller than the one they'd been in. Red glowed from the sides of the walls. Huge, black worms writhed far below them, nesting in a sea of fire. It smelled like sulfur and burning flesh, and his stomach constricted again. "Get us out of here," he yelled at Fai.

The wizard was turning them in a circle, wide eyes skimming over the numerous holes all across the cavern walls. "It's worse now, Kuro-tan. There's so many more."

"That one," Sakura said, pointing.

Fai looked at her; Kurogane saw the way he gulped. The wizard made a decision then, spread out the rug somewhat so he could drag her in front of himself.

Fire shot up next to them, red-hot and blistering, and the blanket jerked to the side.

"Hurry, damn it!" Kurogane snapped. The worms below were stretching up at them; he drew his sword, aimed a lightning bolt down.

_Thoom!_

An explosion roared faintly below. The worms began to slither onto each other, breathing fire. More bolts of licking flame shot up, narrowly missing the carpet.

The carpet curled back around them; they dove at an angle, and Kurogane had to grab on to steady himself, sword glinting next to him.

Sakura plunged them into a tunnel; he barely had time to duck his head. There was no way to sheathe Souhi now, when the new tunnel was just as wide as the previous ones. Something rammed its face into the exit, breathing fire after them. The tips of Kurogane's hair singed. Yellow flame licked on a tassel; he closed his hand around it, wincing when heat seared into his palm. Smoke drifted out from between his fingers.

For how new she was to flying, the princess had deft control over the carpet. She took them through sharp turns that had the carpet curving, yanked them out of the path of fire-breathing things. A window opened in the tunnel; Kurogane caught the briefest glimpse of burning coal.

There were still things in hot pursuit, and Kurogane gripped Souhi, ready to cut them down if they got too close.

The tunnel narrowed even further. They bumped into rocks; sand and pebble blew through the tube of the carpet, hitting their limbs and flying out into the darkness behind.

When they finally pulled out into the night air, Kurogane gasped for breath.

They drifted high up over the desert, blanket unfurling around them. He would be happy if he never entered another of those caves in his life.

"Good job flying, Sakura-chan! You were very good back there." Fai patted Sakura on the shoulder, turned back to look at Kurogane. He smirked at the wizard, who dropped his gaze abruptly to look at Syaoran.

The princess chatted briefly with Fai and Mokona.

"We should go straight to the feather," Fai said. He sounded none the worse for wear. "Once we reach it, maybe we can retrieve it and move on to the next world."

Kurogane felt the same.

Mokona hopped somewhere in front of Sakura with a bright cheer. They were flying again, but slower this time, and Kurogane had a chance to relax. He dragged his hand over his face. All he really wanted was a hot bath and a bed, and neither of those were here.

* * *

The moon lit sprawling canyons far deeper than the one they'd been in, with dark streams meandering at the very bottom. There were stretches of rock that dotted a dried lakebed, and tufts of bushes that looked like clumps of rice plants tied together. Kurogane was certain that they'd never have made it this far in the car. Even so, that car had cost all the money that he and Fai had saved in Yama, and it sucked that they couldn't bring it along with them.

They spotted the location of the feather from miles away. It was wrapped in a sandstorm, and there were thunder clouds above that. Far below, Kurogane sensed the presence of more worms.

He released a slow breath, looked at Fai. Neither of them were really up to fighting right now, not in their current states. At least the boy didn't look much worse than they did.

"Hey," Kurogane said, tapping Syaoran's knee. "Turn around. Did you puke earlier?"

Syaoran scrambled to face him; Fai and Sakura looked back worriedly. "Yes, I did. Did you and everyone else? I thought it might be the food, but I wasn't in time to warn you—"

"Yeah, all of us got sick. Except the white thing."

"Mokona eats all kinds of food!" the magic lump said.

"You look like you rolled down a hill." Kurogane surveyed the boy, cataloging the bruises and cuts on his face and arms. "Wash the cuts out and tend to them later."

Syaoran nodded vigorously. "I'm sorry I was late coming back. I thought it might have been rude to disturb you—"

"Save it," Kurogane said, nodding at the sandstorm ahead. "We still have to get through that first."

As they got closer, he realized that the storm was more potent than the one they'd been in. It spanned several sand dunes, what Kurogane estimated to be the area of a large forest, and it didn't move at all. Sand from the surrounding dunes swept into the air, stinging their faces as Fai pulled them to a stop and backed the carpet away. Thunder rumbled, audible throughout the desert, and they couldn't see anything past the shroud of grayish sand.

"I'll steer," Fai said. He was wearing a smile when he turned to face them. "The rest of you, face backwards. We're going to be traveling in single-file."

"What about Mokona?" The white thing peered worriedly up at him, ears pulled back.

"Ride with Sakura-chan. Don't get blown away!" Fai was fussing over the kids, turning them around and pulling their hoods over their heads. When he was done, he looked at Kurogane. "You too, Kuro-pon. Hood up."

He didn't think Fai could sense the feather from so far away, but if the wizard thought he could guide them through this with the kids intact, then Kurogane wasn't going to argue. He pulled his hood up, turned his back to Fai, and held on tight to the edge of the carpet.

"We're heading in," Fai called. "Cover your faces!"

Compared to the harried dash in the caverns, this last segment of their ride was hardly anything to speak of. Kurogane held his cloak to his face, braced himself against the rear edge of the carpet. The kids weren't holding on to Fai in this carpet tube, and if they lost their balance, he would be the one keeping them from falling into the dunes below.

With a swoop, Fai flew them into the storm, carpet curved protectively up around their sides. At once, sand and wind gusted past them, howling in their ears and rushing past their heads to rejoin the rest of the storm. It wasn't as difficult to breathe when the wind wasn't blowing right in their faces, but Kurogane couldn't help thinking about Fai, whether he was filtering his breath, and whether he had closed his eyes to navigate them through this storm. Did he even know where he was going?

Strange as it was, the changing winds worked to their advantage. Kurogane wasn't sure if the princess or the kid had open wounds or fresh blood on them, but the storm dissipated any traces they might have left, and the worms below stayed underground without a definite scent to latch onto.

The winds grew colder and harsher as they flew. Kurogane was forced to squeeze his eyes shut. The sand got past his cloak somehow, scoured his skin, and he leaned back so he could protect the kid from the worst of the storm.

They jerked to the side suddenly. A bolt of lightning struck, spearing light through his eyelids, and the accompanying thunder was so loud that it set his ears ringing. He couldn't hear the gale for a bit, could only turn and watch as Fai flew them closer to a vague shadow in the storm.

Fai swerved them away from another lightning bolt, and before Kurogane could yell for him to slow down, Fai sent them all headlong towards the towering shadow.

The gale stopped.

All the howling and thunder ceased, suddenly, and Kurogane jerked his gaze around them. It was as if they'd flown past an invisible barrier. Feet away, the storm raged on, dust swirling fast and angry, close enough to touch.

The carpet landed on flat, hard floor and straightened out so they could disembark. Kurogane was the first to stretch. Syaoran crawled to the side, and Sakura looked up around them.

They were in a hewn-stone portico of some sort, with an awning flat and wide above them, held up by two columns on either side. Gentle steps led down to the barrier holding the storm away. On the other side of the porch was a shadowed entryway leading to the rest of the short, wide building. It seemed safe in this place—no presences aside from theirs.

Kurogane stood up unsteadily and crossed to the front, where Fai remained sitting. The kids were tottering around; he left them to their own devices, knelt down in front of the wizard. "Hey."

Fai looked up with a great smile. The skin on his face was a shade darker and his hair was mussed, but there was otherwise no sign of damage from the storm. "We made it, Kuro-pon! I wasn't sure where we were heading. I thought we were lost."

He snorted, but the kids had turned to listen in, so he left Fai's untruth as it was.

"The feather is here!" Mokona's eyes had opened so wide they could see her inky pupils. She bounded further into the entryway and back to the kids, and Kurogane breathed a sigh of relief. They were close. He was really, really tired of this world.

He stretched a hand towards the wizard. Fai took it; Kurogane hauled him to his feet, watching shrewdly while he found his balance. "That ride was kind of difficult," Fai said quietly, tugging his hand away.

"No kidding."

Syaoran had retrieved a flashlight from Mokona in the time they took to roll the carpet up. Kurogane hefted it onto his shoulder, walked slowly alongside Fai as they followed the kids into the building.

"It's a temple," the boy breathed on the threshold of the first antechamber, bluish-white light sweeping across rough stone walls. Lines upon lines of eroded text were interspersed by simple drawings, and there was more writing on the walls of the next room.

"Wait," Kurogane said when Syaoran stepped further into the room. "You don't know if there're traps here. We're in no condition to go sniffing around right now."

Syaoran looked guiltily at his feet. Kurogane patted him heavily on the shoulder, turned them back towards the portico.

"We'll rest here for the night. If we're feeling better by morning, we'll investigate the temple further."

No one disagreed to that. Kurogane unrolled the carpet closer to the wall of the temple, waved them onto it. It was better than sitting on cold stone and losing heat. Fai had Mokona hand over some light food—crackers and a can of syrupy peaches from another world—and made everyone wash their hands before they ate.

"Mokona doesn't want food," the white thing said.

"Why not?" Fai frowned at her, peach-topped cracker in his hand. "I've got some for you."

She shook her head. "Everyone doesn't have enough food. Mokona doesn't need food. Mokona is magical!"

Fai stared at her in consternation; Kurogane rolled his eyes. "If the wizard says to eat it, then eat it. We're all in this together. Besides, we're getting out of this world soon. We'll get more food when we're there."

Mokona took the cracker and peach with both her paws, looked up at all of them. Even the kids were smiling. "Mokona feels loved."

Kurogane tapped her forehead lightly with a finger. "Now eat it before I take it from you."

She popped the food promptly into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. "Kuro-wan is mean!"

"You steal my food all the time," he retorted. Fai snickered to the side, and he glared at the idiot. "And you, stop encouraging it."

"Looks like the big bad dog has his appetite back!" Fai sang, shoving crackers and a peach slice over.

"Shut up and eat," Kurogane said. After the snake and dry rations, it was pleasant to have moist food in his mouth, even if it was cloyingly sweet. The crackers and peach slices were all sized the same; Fai tried giving his share away again, and Kurogane punched him lightly.

"Ow!"

"Eat it all, you idiot. Or I'll throw it into the desert and let the worms have it." Kurogane reached out to take Fai's cracker sandwich away.

That seemed to do the trick; Fai stared at him in utmost horror and shoved the food promptly into his mouth, chewing diligently.

They hadn't fully recovered from the snake meat yet. Sakura was back to frowning, and Syaoran was still pale. Fai fussed over the boy, cleaning out his scratches and bandaging them up with some of Mokona's supplies. Kurogane polished his sword, stretched his legs out on the carpet, and attempted to sleep. He couldn't.

His stomach was still mildly uncomfortable. It seemed that Fai and the kids were equally miserable. Sakura was curled up on the carpet, one hand across her stomach, mouth pushed into a pout. Fai was slumped against the wall next to her, fiddling with the edge of his cloak. Syaoran was stretched out on the far side of the carpet, trying to stay as still as he could.

"I can't sleep," Fai said. The kids murmured an agreement.

"We're going to try and get the feather tomorrow. Get some sleep," Kurogane said, even if he felt too uncomfortable to himself.

They fell into silence once more, fidgeting, and Fai rolled around, looking at Kurogane. "Kuro-pon, sing us a song."

"What. No. Sing it yourself."

"But Kuro-daddy has the best singing voice," Fai whispered to the kids, the corner of his lips tilted up. "You just haven't heard it yet."

Syaoran and Sakura turned their eyes on him, and he glowered. "Don't tell them crap like that, you idiot. We need to sleep."

"We can't sleep," Fai answered. "And neither can you."

Kurogane glared. "I'm damn well trying to."

Fai turned away and huffed. "Kuro-rin is no fun."

"No fun," Mokona echoed. "Fai is more fun than Kuro-rin."

"You have your music and your songs. Do something with those," he said to Fai, knowing the kids would hear.

Sure enough, they turned their attention on the wizard, who hid his resentful stare just as quickly. "Well, I suppose I do," he said with a mouthful of cheer. "Kuro-pon's favorite song is a lullaby!"

It was payback, all over again, and Kurogane should have thought about it before he goaded Fai into something like this.

"Can you sing it?" Sakura asked, propping herself up on an elbow.

Wicked eyes slid over to him, and for a moment there, their gazes locked.

"I can play it," Fai said slowly. "And maybe you can ask Kuro-daddy to teach you how to sing it."

Before he could protest, the wizard was asking Mokona for his kokyu. She spat it out into his waiting hands; Fai straightened and bowed shallowly, and leaned back against the wall.

Kurogane had seen the kids' curious looks when he had Mokona store the instrument in Shara. Fai had been carrying the instrument on his back through their last battle at the Moon Castle. With the sort of luck they had, Kurogane had half-expected it to fall from its sling and smash to pieces, but it did not.

Now, it lay cradled in Fai's lap, strings twanging when Fai plucked at them. "It still sounds right," he murmured.

Kurogane leaned his head back against the wall, watched Fai from the corner of his eye. The wizard was all blond hair and stark lines, and now that Kurogane had time on his hands, he observed, chest tight.

The first warbling notes were slow, as if Fai was trying to remember what the song sounded like. He didn't hesitate for long, though, when he settled into the melody, fingers speeding up, bow kissing strings.

It sounded like Yama all over again, like campfire music and secluded training, and Fai humming calming tunes into the night.

Kurogane closed his eyes and remembered.

There had been nights in Yama when he'd laid back and thought it would never end, that easy camaraderie with Fai. They had trained, and bathed, and he had gone chasing Fai into the forests more than once, when Fai had sneaked the last bottle of wine away and Kurogane had gone after him for it. Then they'd had sex on the forest floor, with the leaves rustling and the wind around them, and Fai had tasted like wine.

There had been the occasional rainstorm, when Fai would wander into the forest and try to catch raindrops in his open palms, and he'd thrown himself flat on the grass, let rain patter into his mouth. Fai had watched him trim his hair once, reaching over to pluck at the fallen strands and showering them back onto Kurogane, and Kurogane had yelled at him for it. Fai had laughed, and the next animal comic had bits of black hair all over Big Doggy.

There had been nights, too, when Kurogane had lain awake wondering what it'd be like, if he could live the rest of his life with Fai by his side.

"Kuro-tan? You're supposed to sing along. You haven't fallen asleep, have you?"

He blinked his eyes open, found the kids, Fai and Mokona watching him. Fai was still playing a slow melody on his kokyu, and his mouth was curved in a soft smile.

In front of them, the sandstorm raged behind its barrier, and the temple was a deep grey in the moonlight.

"Not asleep," he said.

"Do you know the words to this song?" Fai asked. His fingers slowed, and the tune shifted to a familiar one, the first that Fai had hummed to him all those months ago.

Kurogane swallowed, listened to the lift and sigh of the tune. It sounded like his mother's voice and a warm hearth and his father's hearty laugh, and it filled his heart with something that overflowed. He wished he could share it with Fai, Fai who ran from all the warmth he needed. He licked his chapped lips. "Yeah."

"Will you teach it to the children?" Fai turned that smile on him, all soft now, and Kurogane couldn't say no. His throat worked. "I think it'll make everyone happy."

_Will it make you happy?_ he wanted to ask. Instead, he nodded, tried reaching for his voice when the wizard began the lullaby anew. He licked his lips again, counted along with the melody as Fai played. Kurogane hadn't done this in a long time. The notes rose and dipped, and he almost missed the cue to begin.

" _On this dark night when I'm all alone,_ " he sang, voice rough, more loudly than he'd have liked, " _the stars shine bright and I hold my heart and pray. That an angel comes from the distant lands, hold my hand and take me home._ "

Fai was staring at him, like he was thirsty and Kurogane was an oasis. His eyes were wide, smile fallen from his mouth, and the tune tapered away when he stopped playing. "I... I don't think I heard you very clearly, Kuro-myu. You should probably sing it again. Right, Sakura-chan?"

"Right," Sakura whispered, eyes locked on Kurogane.

He cleared his throat, wondered if the heat in his cheeks looked worse than he imagined it to be. His stomach flipped. "You should have learned it the first time I sang," he said.

"We couldn't hear you properly," Fai answered. He'd dipped his chin, now, fixed his eyes on the kokyu. "Try it again, Kuro-sama."

So he did, maybe because Fai liked it and wanted to hear it again. When Fai began to play the lullaby, Kurogane sang more loudly, tried not to mumble. He didn't look at anyone, though he was very keenly aware of the wizard on the other side of the kids. He felt self-conscious, too, and that hadn't happened in a very, very long time.

When it was over, he looked at Syaoran. "Did you catch most of it?"

The boy stared at him, nodded rigidly. "Yes, Kurogane-san. But I can't sing very well."

"Try it," he told the kids and jerked his chin at them, looking at Fai. _Play it for them._ "I'm not singing it again."

"Kuro-daddy is mean," Fai said, but he played the song anyway.

Sakura was the first to begin singing; Syaoran followed behind after a couple of beats, and when they began to falter on the lyrics, _Fai_ was the one to sing it back to them. Kurogane had been watching the kids at first, but when the wizard began completing the rest of the song with Mokona, he'd turned and looked, and he couldn't look away. This had to be a weakness of some sort.

"Teach us another one," Fai said, after they'd finished singing.

"No. You can teach it to them. I'm going to sleep." Kurogane turned his entire body away, tucked his cheek into his hand. "It's been a stupid long day."

There was a pause before Fai agreed. "Kuro-rin is right. We should all try and get some sleep in."

It didn't stop the idiot from humming the lullaby, though, and Kurogane hung on to every bit of the tune, almost wishing he could burrow his face in Fai's neck, just for a bit. He wasn't in Nihon now, and Fai and the kids were becoming a family of sorts. Fai, in particular, felt like home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, some light-hearted stuff. We're in the home stretch now! 
> 
> This arc has been surprisingly long.. I was expecting it to end quick (like all the others, lol)... Apologies for the puking scene. It made me want to puke when I wrote it, so I hope it wasn't as bad for you guys.
> 
> New readers - if you aren't aware of it yet, _'the sands of Harasa'_ is part of a multi-arc series! This chapter touches on some of the Yama arc stuff that happened in _'ink, fire and fiddle'_. :)


	10. A Ritual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **This chapter is rated E for sex** , but I'm averaging out the entire work's ratings and bumping it to an M, so.

It was surprisingly bright the next morning. Kurogane woke to a sandstorm swirling golden behind the barrier, and weak yellow sunlight on the temple grounds. The kids were asleep next to him, and so was Fai, who had curled up next to the wall, turned away from all of them. Mokona caught his eye and bounced up, paws outstretched.

"Shh," he said. She nodded, smiled, and pulled a bottle of water out of storage for him. He blinked at her, surprised. "Thanks."

When he was done with the water, he left the cap open, tilted it towards her. Mokona beamed and whispered, "Kurogane is nice when nobody is looking."

He frowned and growled at her, and she giggled.

"Have you seen the rest of this place?" he muttered. Mokona nodded, bounced onto his shoulder, and leaned in.

"It's a big, empty temple," she whispered. "There's a waterfall of light in one of the rooms! It's pretty."

"No traps?"

"Mokona was careful," she told him proudly, and hopped off from his shoulder. "Come look!"

He grunted when he stood, rolling his shoulders to ease the stiffness in his limbs. His stomach felt far better today. The spines in his foot were still there, but he'd got used to them by now, and the other scratches and burns were healing.

Kurogane left the bottle between Fai and the kids, stepping quietly behind Mokona into the antechamber they'd looked at briefly the previous night.

The writing on the walls wasn't something he could read. He scanned the room for potential traps, tested the give of the floor with each step he took, muscles tense and ready to spring. Mokona had bounced on ahead. He huffed; of course she wouldn't be afraid of traps—it was near impossible for anything to hurt her.

Kurogane made his way through dark, tall corridors with empty sconces on the walls, examined the empty rooms he passed, and eventually found himself at what he estimated to be the back of the building. The dim passageway leading to this room had been wide and straight, and there was a set of half-closed doors at the end of it.

Mokona had slipped between the wooden doors—there was faint light shining through the gap. Kurogane pushed a door open warily, senses on alert, but there was only dust filtering down onto the floor before him.

"Isn't it pretty?" the white thing asked in her tiny voice.

It was a room, wide and round, with cobblestone bricks circling through the floor. Four pillars rose up to support the ceiling; there was a round skylight in the very middle, shining a sliver of weak sunlight into a far corner of the room. Beneath the skylight was a large circle, outlined by dark, round pebbles between cobblestone flooring. More inlaid pebbles split the circle: north to south, east to west, and diagonals dividing the circle into eight equal parts.

"The feather is somewhere in this room," Mokona said, dancing on the edge of the circle.

Curious, Kurogane stepped forward, footfalls echoing in the chamber. There were eight other circles engraved into the main circle. These smaller circles were flat and a hand-span across, an inch deep, as if someone had meant for round tiles to be placed in them but never got around to doing it. Except there were swirls carved into these smaller circles, like they were meant to be seen.

"Why are they arranged like that?" he asked Mokona. Instead of there being one circle in each of the eight segments, the smaller circles were positioned unevenly in a curve of sorts. He followed the arc, looked up, and saw the splotch of sunlight on the floor. "It's a sundial."

A short round of applause echoed behind him. Kurogane looked up, found Fai leaning against the doorjamb. "Very clever, Kuro-run."

He straightened from his crouch. "Thought you were asleep."

Fai shrugged, pushed away from the door and stepped in. "I woke up."

"Fai, what do you think this is?" Mokona bounded up to the wizard, hopping into the hollow of his hands. "The feather is in here."

Kurogane stepped away from the little engraved circles, scanning the room for traps of any sort.

"It looks like it might have been set up for a ritual," the blond said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. Blue eyes flickered over the circles, to the splotch of bright sunlight, and up at the skylight. "Based on the sun. And whatever ritual it is will take place in the circle."

"Huh. So we'll have about three hours before it has to begin," Kurogane said, following the wizard's gaze. He turned to Mokona. "Go wake the kids up."

"They're awake," Fai answered, smiling. "But they'll probably need food, Mokona, if you'd be so wonderful as to serve them breakfast."

Mokona bounced out of the room with a cheer, leaving Kurogane alone with the wizard. Fai wandered closer, eyes tracing over the various circles, and Kurogane watched as Fai peered at an engraved circle that was stained slightly darker than the others.

"You still sick?" Kurogane asked.

Fai glanced up, lips curved. "I'm better. The children as well. You?"

"Better. Enough to fight, at least." He grinned when Fai's smile grew wider, stepping out of the circle. "The kid better solve this today. I'm itching for a shower."

"Or a bath. Something warm." Fai glanced at him, looked away.

He didn't know what that look meant, only that it had something to do with him. It was enough to make his insides tingle.

Fai straightened then, turning to the doorway as if he'd had enough of this place for now. Kurogane followed, stopped him with a word. "Hey." When Fai turned, eyebrows raised, he continued, "what about those birds? Your magic?"

The wizard sighed. "I've told you to let that go, Kuro-pyon."

"Whoever is after you— Does the tattoo on your back change anything?"

Fai frowned and blinked, tilting his head to the side. "Of course not."

"Why even have it done, then?" They were close enough to touch, but Kurogane figured he didn't need Fai to bolt right now.

"Mind your own business." Fai turned on his heels, reached up to tweak Kurogane's nose. He jerked it beyond the grasp of cold fingers. "Don't stick your nose into places it doesn't belong, Kuro-pii."

He didn't bother arguing with that. When the time came, he'd stick his nose in whatever he damn well felt like sticking it into.

* * *

With Mokona around, breakfast was more decent than the slice of fruit they'd had the day before. She had crackers, canned corn and pickles to offer today. Fai whined at the pickles. Kurogane could see why the wizard would think sourness meant that food had spoiled. He'd had his fair share of pickles, though, and none of those were bad.

Fai shuddered and scrunched his face up, and passed vehemently on the jar of little cucumbers.

After, Syaoran hurried to the antechambers of the temple, determined to glean details about the supposed ritual, while Fai and Sakura did their stretches in the shade of the portico. Kurogane found a long-handled brush in one of the side rooms and took it upon himself to sweep up the ritual area. He'd been through rituals in Nihon—Tomoyo had her prayer rooms meticulously cleaned, and Kurogane would be damned if he didn't at least attempt to get the sand and dust off the cobblestone floors in that room.

The daub of sunlight had crawled halfway across the floor to the circle. Kurogane followed its path with his eyes, saw how it would pass through each of the smaller engraved circles on the floor. Was there supposed to be something there, when the sun reached each dip in the ground?

"Hey," he said, stopping by the second antechamber, where Syaoran was shining his flashlight slowly across the writing two feet above his head. "Are we going to need anything for that ritual? Worm heads or that kind of thing?"

"I'm still reading about it," the boy said, eyes fixed on the wall. "It's apparently a yearly ritual for bountiful harvests."

"Bountiful harvests," Kurogane echoed, thinking about the miles of sand around them.

"Fertile soil. I found some smashed pots in the other room," he continued, glancing at Kurogane. "I think there might have been some vandalism. Or perhaps they simply grew fragile with age."

"Right. Okay. So what do we actually need?"

The boy pulled a face, pointed to his side. "I have a feeling that the ritual details are over on that wall, but I need to study the history of the temple to really understand what this is about."

Kurogane sighed. "All right. I'll be back later."

He found Fai and Sakura out on the portico in a spar of sorts. Fai had set her in front of himself, and was demonstrating ways she could be held down. When Kurogane stepped through the doorway, the wizard brightened.

"Kuro-pon! Just who I needed. I want to demonstrate things so Sakura-chan has a better idea of what I'm saying."

"So you're volunteering to be a captive?" he said, and wished he'd phrased it differently, because something shifted in Fai's expression, too minute for the girl to notice.

"Well. I'll need you to attempt to hold me down. During which I'll show Sakura-chan how to escape."

There was stark irony in this situation, but Kurogane agreed. Fai stepped up in front of him, instructed Kurogane to grab him beneath his arms. Kurogane complied, pulled Fai tight against him, and the wizard was acting as if he didn't notice the press of their bodies when he told Sakura how she should throw her weight forward, to catch her captor off-guard.

It was something Kurogane was familiar with, of course. He'd done things like that before he'd decided that it was a lot easier just to eliminate all of Tomoyo's threats.

Fai rested his weight completely on Kurogane's arm. He was forced forward, upon which the wizard kicked at the ground to bring his head back toward Kurogane's.

He dodged it; Fai eased forward, leaning into his cheek. "I'm doing it slow so I don't hurt Kuro-wan, but in real life, you'll have to do this really quick, okay? Use the back of your head to smash your skull against theirs. If it hurts enough, it'll force them to let go."

"But I don't want to hurt you," Sakura said, concern shimmering in her eyes.

Fai was faced away from him, but Kurogane heard the smile in his voice anyway. "Kuro-rin and I know to expect that. We'll do it faster so you can see what it's like. Ready, Kuro-pon?"

"Yeah."

They repeated the move much quicker this time, Fai tight against him and throwing his weight forward, and Kurogane had to turn away and dart his hand between their heads so Fai didn't accidentally break something of his.

"See," the wizard said. "Kuro-pyon and I know what's coming, so we'll be able to take precautions to protect ourselves."

The princess nodded, and they spent the next half hour practicing different methods of escape. When she'd got fluent in one technique, they'd switch to the next, and double back to see if she remembered the previous methods.

Syaoran came dashing out through an antechamber in the middle of a wrist grab. He stopped and stared in horror as Sakura twisted out of Fai's grasp, her face lighting up in a smile when the wizard clapped.

"What did you find out?" Kurogane asked, to bring his focus back.

Syaoran shifted his weight between his feet. "Um, I just checked the ritual room. We have maybe half an hour until it starts, and, um, it's a fertility ritual."

"You've said that," Kurogane answered, nonchalant. "Do we need to go out and hunt animal parts?"

His suspicions only arose when the boy flushed, shaking his head nervously. "Um, no, it's not just that," he stuttered. "It, um, it requires fluids. Things like water and wine and, um, bodily fluids."

"So we bring a worm down," Kurogane reasoned. It couldn't be so twisted as to require human blood, could it? "Probably need to borrow that carpet again."

"Um, about that, Yuuko-san said that there's some carpet hairs that got shaved off. She wants extra compensation. A tassel got burnt too." Syaoran glanced at Souhi; Kurogane realized that it might have been his fault, when he hadn't had time to sheath his sword during their escape from the caverns.

"Fine. I'll pay. What do we need for the ritual?"

The boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his face so flushed he might have been the one suffering from heatstroke. "It requires, um, body fluids from coupling. It's a fertility ritual, you see."

There was absolute silence for a few moments. Kurogane looked between Syaoran and the princess. He hadn't thought they would get together like this, but. It probably wouldn't hurt to nudge them in that direction. Fai, apparently, had arrived at the same conclusion. His forehead was furrowed, and he wasn't smiling.

"No, no, it's not that exactly," Syaoran said, stammering so hard that Kurogane thought about sitting him down. "It needs, um, two men."

"I thought you said it was a fertility ritual." Kurogane frowned, glanced at Fai. There wasn't any reaction on the wizard's face.

Syaoran winced. "Well, that's what it says. There are eight offerings to be made—wine, water, and fluids from two different people."

"Like sweat?" Fai suggested helpfully.

"The thing about being in a desert is that sweat evaporates faster than you can collect it." Syaoran fiddled with a fold in his robes. "My guess is saliva. And, well."

"Shouldn't it be a man and a woman?" Kurogane said, disbelieving. "That's the whole idea of fertility, right?"

"Not in Harasa, no. Well, this place used to be full of fields, and it was the men who worked the fields..." The boy chanced a glance at Kurogane. "The thing of it is, they did that for a long time, and the land was bountiful. Someone changed the ritual midway though. I think it might have been the feather perhaps—" He paused to send Sakura an apologetic look. "But that part of the writing was scratched off. All I know is that it has to be two men."

_Well, fuck._

Kurogane looked at Fai, who was pointedly looking at somewhere other than all of them.

"I'd, um, volunteer to be one of them," Syaoran said uneasily, brown eyes flickering between Fai and Kurogane. "But, um, I'm not sure if it's fine—"

"We'll do it," Fai said suddenly, full of false cheer. He turned and stepped forward, patting Syaoran on the shoulder. "Kuro-rin and I will be the noble sacrifices."

Kurogane snorted. Fai was pushing the boy in the direction of the chamber, though, avoiding his eyes. Sakura looked at him. "Is this really okay, Kurogane-san?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. It'll be fine. We might need a strip of cloth though. Maybe a few."

She blinked innocently and nodded. "Okay. I'll get that for you."

The splash of sunlight in the ritual room was a foot away from the first circle by the time they'd all gathered in there. Kurogane retrieved bottles of water and wine from Mokona, complied when Syaoran said to disrobe.

"It's part of the drawings," the boy said shakily, keeping his eyes averted. "But we can always use blankets and things like that."

"What else do we have to do?" Kurogane asked, when Sakura brought him a length of blanket, trimmed so he could use it as a makeshift skirt. He stripped to his underwear, tied it around his waist. Fai was still wrapped in his dusty traveling cloak. He waved off the boy's help when Syaoran tried to approach him.

"Some minor cleansing, I think. And some painting."

"Painting?"

Syaoran hurried off and returned to the chamber with two bowls of caked mud. "We add water to these to make it a paint. It goes on your faces and arms."

The entire ritual sounded ridiculous to Kurogane, but they were this close from the next world, and he really wanted his shower. So, he nodded. "Go prepare the paints in the next room. The wizard and I will do the cleansing ourselves."

"You know how to do a cleansing ritual?" the boy asked in surprise.

"Yeah. Tomoyo is the priestess of Nihon. 'Course I know how to do cleansing rituals." His mother had been a priestess, too, but no one needed to hear that.

Kurogane turned to the wizard when the kids left with Mokona. Fai was faced away, seated cross-legged on the edge of the circle with his hood drawn up. He hadn't said a word through all of this, though he smiled at Syaoran and Sakura when they talked to him. "Hey."

The blond sighed and lowered his hood. "Well, Kuro-rin, I suppose we may as well make this fun."

"We don't have all day," Kurogane muttered. He reached forward to help undress the wizard, who didn't look at him when he cooperated, shedding heavy fabric and thin clothes that had helped him cope with the heat of the desert. When Fai was naked, Kurogane handed him a cut blanket.

"How do you do the cleansing?" Fai asked carefully, wrapped himself up in the blanket. He was pale like moonlight, with dustings of pink sunburn across his skin. He looked the same, and yet different in the scant light of the room. What muscle he had was brought into sharp relief, like the planes of his chest and the lines of his throat. Kurogane knew he was lit in the same way—blue eyes lingered on his chest.

He turned to the bottles of water and cut blankets, folding a piece of blanket into a hand towel. "You're supposed to run purifying magic through the water. In our case, we'll make do with a prayer."

Fai blinked at him. "I've never known prayers to help."

He shrugged, muttered a short wish for protection and cleansing that his mother had taught him. Fai's eyebrows twitched; he said nothing, however, so Kurogane wet his cloth and dragged it over the wizard's face, cleaning dirt off high cheekbones and pale skin.

"I can do that myself," Fai murmured, looking away.

"I need you to be entirely clean," Kurogane shot back. "Unless you're going to clean yourself thoroughly, I'll do it."

Fai pursed his lips. "You should wet a piece of cloth for me too. That'll save us time."

Kurogane repeated the procedure with a new piece of blanket, wet his own again, and continued to wipe Fai down—his neck, his chest, his arms, and his back. The phoenix stared at him, regal and powerful, and he dipped his head in acknowledgement, stroked the cloth gently over bold black lines.

Fai was no less gentle with him. It was a remnant of Yama, perhaps, that the wizard cleaned his skin as though he were dressing a wound. The touch of cool wet was surprisingly refreshing. Then they pulled the blankets off, and Fai's throat worked when Kurogane dipped his washcloth down.

He was half-hard by the time they re-wrapped the blankets around their waists, and the kids appeared at the doorway.

"Mokona, keep these clothes in storage, won't you?" Fai asked, smiling at the white thing. "I'm not sure if we'll have time to put them on later. Sakura-chan will hold our cloaks for us."

The kids were staring at Fai's tattoo again. It couldn't be helped, though. The phoenix was regal and commanded attention. It pulled their eyes away from the carefully-blank expression Fai wore—perhaps that was its purpose, helping Fai hide in plain sight. Heaven knew Kurogane had been fascinated enough by it.

He had Syaoran paint whatever it was that needed to go onto his skin; Sakura took a little more time with Fai's drawings, tiny fingers trailing curls and dots over his arms.

It felt almost sacred, this ritual. They were completely silent. Even Mokona, who always had something or other to say, sat quietly to a side and watched.

Meanwhile, the shaft of sunlight drew ever closer to the first circle.

"We fill the first with water," Fai said suddenly, as though he'd caught Kurogane staring at the ritual space. When he raised his eyebrows, the wizard continued, "there are little carvings on the walls of the indent. The next has red stains—I'm sure that is for wine."

He wasn't about to ask what the other circles required, though he figured that Fai would consult the kid if he really didn't know. Or, they could work it out for themselves.

When the painting was done, the kids drew away, Syaoran with no small amount of trepidation on his face, and Sakura with a bright smile. She fanned at the damp paint on Fai's arms to help dry them; in this climate, Kurogane was certain that she needn't bother.

"The sun is almost there," Syaoran said nervously, glancing at the sunlight on the floor. They had placed all bottles and blankets on the outside of the circle, leaving Kurogane and Fai the only ones in its middle. "Is there anything else you need help with?"

Fai shook his head and waved him off. "We'll be fine, Syaoran-kun. Kuro-rin is big enough to protect both of us. You and Sakura-chan be good while you wait, okay?"

Kurogane snorted, watched as the kids nodded and left them with worried backward glances, Mokona rolling herself around in remnants of paint in Sakura's bowl. "So, the water."

Fai was crouched by the first circle, freshly-opened bottle of water in hand. Sunlight glowed bright on the cobblestone floor beside him. "Do you need to purify this as well?"

There wasn't very much time left at all. Kurogane grabbed it, said a quick prayer, and splashed water into the circle just as sunshine dipped its fingers in.

The water sparkled in golden light. Nothing moved, and for a long time, they watched as sunlight inched across the circle.

"Maybe it has to be fully illuminated," Fai said eventually. Kurogane hoped he was right. He hoped they didn't have to stay in this temple and wait an entire year for the right day—they would run out of sustenance long before that.

Neither of them spoke as they sat back and watched the sun's progress across the circle. At the bottom of the circular indent, the carved spirals looked as though they'd come alive, lit gold and bright in the water.

It felt like an hour before the splotch of sunlight covered the circle completely, and the water began to boil.

"Huh," Kurogane said. It shouldn't have been hot enough for water to reach that temperature, but he wasn't going to question it.

Somewhere in the temple, there was a loud _thoom_.

Fai looked up at the closed doors in concern. "Do you think the children are fine?"

Kurogane knew as well as he did that there weren't any other presences in here, save for theirs. The kids weren't running, and there weren't any shouts coming from the hallway. "Yeah."

They remained staring at the bubbling, sunlit water. Nothing happened after that, though.

"Guess we wait," Kurogane said, gulping a mouthful of water and handing the bottle over to Fai. The wizard's laughter was a huff of breath.

"Are we allowed to drink purified water?"

"Don't know. But we need spit for the other two circles, and it's not like we have much water left."

"Ever practical, Kuro-pi." Fai drank a sip, and another when Kurogane stared at him. "Think we'll have enough for the whole ritual? It looks like it'll take a while."

"Maybe an hour or two. Can't be that long." Now that they had an idea how the ritual worked, the tension in the air eased. Kurogane settled himself next to Fai, studied Sakura's paintings with a sidelong glance. "Princess draws well."

"Doesn't she?" The wizard stretched his arms out, looking at the lines and circles winding over his skin. He was far more relaxed now that the kids weren't in the same room staring at his back, and Kurogane was glad for that. "I think she did really well with that training earlier. Thanks for helping."

Kurogane shrugged. "We agreed to teach her. That's just part of it."

"I think she'll need to increase her speed. She seems afraid to hurt others."

"Yeah. Can't do much about that unless it's a matter of life or death, I guess. She isn't the type to want to hurt."

"If someone she cares about is in danger, though. If all of us are down." They fell silent, wondering how Sakura would be able to do much if the rest of them were already incapacitated.

"Question is, whether she cares enough about herself to put others in danger." Kurogane slid his glance over at Fai, who looked as though he was resolutely thinking about the princess and not himself. "Say she gets attacked and we aren't there. Kid is unable to protect her somehow."

Fai drew a sharp breath, lowered his gaze. "That's terrible."

"That's why we're training her."

The conversation continued in this manner, discussions on what they could to do improve Sakura's self-defense weaving into the sort of fighting style she'd be best at, to the sort of weapons she should use. The tightness in Fai's limbs seeped out the more they envisioned the princess as a little warrior, brave enough to fight on Syaoran's behalf. Kurogane noticed. The wizard talked briefly about her infection, too, but there wasn't anything they could do about that now. Kurogane felt a bit bad for not helping with it.

When the beam of sunlight crept up to the next circle, he said a prayer for the wine, and emptied a decent portion of the bottle onto stone. Again, nothing happened. Kurogane set the bottle down between them, rolled his shoulders. If the first circle was anything to go by, they had quite a bit of time before the bell struck. "Probably should've used some cheap wine," he said. "Not like the stone can taste it."

Fai snorted. "That isn't something I'd expect from a man who blesses the water we use."

Kurogane shrugged. "We use better wines as offerings to the gods or the dead we remember." That neither of them really cared about this land, or the temple, was something he didn't voice, but a sentiment they shared all the same. Tomoyo would chastise if she found that he'd skimped on the wine.

Fai glanced at him. "What is it? You're amused about something. I don't think it's the dead."

"It's the wine," he said. "In Nihon, we don't cut corners with offerings."

"Have you?" Fai asked, leaning forward. "I can't imagine that you have in your home world."

He shook his head. "I could've gone with more for this." Kurogane jerked his chin at the circle, steeped in burgundy wine and half-lit with sun. "But I figured the exact volume doesn't matter."

"More for us." Fai smiled, and there was a hint of white teeth. It made him look a little predatory, a little dangerous. Kurogane was staring again. "What sorts of wine did you have in your Nihon?"

"We call it sake. But there are other sorts of wines, like wine for cooking," Kurogane said. He thought that Fai might like the liquor where he came from. "We've had similar. The cheap ones are bitter. The expensive ones taste like fruit."

Fai nodded.

"What sorts of wine did you have?"

The wizard's gaze slid away, and he smiled. "I wonder."

"Tch. C'mon. It's just booze. Have we had it before?"

Fai raised his eyebrows. He poked Kurogane on the cheek, lightly, and sat back. "Perhaps."

"You have a really high tolerance for booze. So you must've had a lot before. The sweet sort." Because Fai did tend towards the sweeter sort of wines, and he had been pleasantly surprised to find them through the worlds, instead of being stunned by how much he liked their flavors.

Fai shrugged, and Kurogane briefly considered knocking him upside his head. "Kuro-pon has been watching me, it seems."

"Idiot. The booze in Yama was not bad."

The wizard grinned at that. "We should've brought some along with us, no? I think the children might like what we had."

"No way." Kurogane scowled, and Fai chuckled at the look on his face.

"They could stand to have their tolerance levels increased."

"Hell no." He could envision the kid trying to climb onto tables with various kitchen utensils, and he was not going to put up with that. "They better not get drunk the next world, you hear?"

Fai smiled at him, and said nothing.

 _Thoom._ Bubbles rose from the middle of the wine, glistening in the sun.

"Sounds almost like a clock, don't you think?" Fai leaned back on his hands, eyed the bottle that sat half-full between them. "Are you going to drink that?"

"You think?" He smirked, finally reached for it. It was good wine, mellow, bitter, leaving a pleasant aftertaste on his tongue. It was a treat after all they'd been through in this world, and Kurogane sighed when it trickled warm into his belly. The wizard grinned when he handed it over, drank more than he had of water. "You're an idiot."

"Always, Kuro-sama."

They passed the bottle back and forth, taking care to savor it slowly.

"Delicious wine. We should have bought more of this in the flying rock world." Fai licked his lips, glanced at the pool of deep red that shone in the sunlight. "Although I wouldn't drink from that unless I were desperate."

Kurogane snorted. "You would if you were drunk."

"Then you'd have to stop me, of course." The wizard smiled loosely, one of those smiles that had Kurogane's stomach clenching. He wanted to kiss Fai, but all he had to do now was bide his time.

"If I don't?" he asked, throat tight. There were things Fai did when he pretended to be drunk, that Kurogane liked very, very much.

Fai slanted a fleeting look his way, licked his lips. He did not move away, however, and that spoke enough about the things he did want, that he couldn't hide. "You're supposed to be the responsible one, Kuro-wan."

Sunlight slid off the second circle, crawling across rough cobblestone. Past the doorway, there was no sound from the kids. Kurogane held the bottle of water up. "You gonna spit first, or me?"

"You. Set a good example." Fai grinned again, but it was bright this time, full of good humor. "Make it a big, rude glob of spit! I haven't seen that in so long."

Kurogane rolled his eyes, knocked the idiot lightly over the head. "Do it yourself. I don't have that much spit."

"Is that a challenge?" The wizard raised his eyebrows. "Can I really beat you that easily?"

Kurogane glared. Fai just had to do this, didn't he. He sipped a mouthful of water, swallowed. "That white thing. Can anything harm her? Physically or otherwise?"

Fai looked curiously over. "Is this a trick question?"

"No. I want to know if she's going to survive a place that's actually full of traps."

The wizard leaned backwards, tapped his chin lightly. "Well... She'll be fine. Knives and swords can't hurt Mokona, I don't think. You've seen that for yourself, Kuro-pi, with how much you torture that poor thing."

Kurogane scowled. "She deserves it. Steals my damn food all the time. She's a damn nuisance."

"You just don't want her wandering around a trap-filled temple by herself and getting hurt," the blond said, gloating, and Kurogane spluttered. "Kuro-pon loves Mokona."

"Don't say crap like that."

"Of course." Fai was laughing at him. He just knew it.

Kurogane turned to the third circle, spat into it. Saliva was hard to come by in a place like this. "Let's see you try to do better," he said.

"Surely you'd produce more if you thought about good food," Fai suggested. "Imagine a platter of raw fish, or those sour pickles."

The wizard shuddered. Kurogane thought about the sushi they'd had a few worlds back, when Mokona robbed an unsuspecting chef of his raw fish, and his mouth watered. He thought about Fai. That helped, too.

It was odd to see his saliva bubbling in the middle of the carved circle some time later, when the temple rang. Fai leaned in close to inspect the boiling fluid.

"It'll splatter on your face if you get too near," Kurogane said. The air smelled sweet, like wine, and it was very slightly damp.

"Are you worried about your spit getting on my face?" Fai countered, an eyebrow raised, and Kurogane had to turn away, cheeks warming. He hadn't thought about it that way.

By the time Fai contributed his own saliva, Kurogane was gratified to see that the idiot wasn't doing a much better job at all. Perhaps it was because he talked way too much, or perhaps it was merely a matter of whose mouth got wetter, and that was that.

When sunlight slid over the fourth circle, another _thoom_ rang through the temple. The sound seemed to reverberate down to the very foundations of the building. Kurogane had never seen a temple react this way to sunlight and fluids in little hollows on the floor, but he'd been sent back through time and thrown forward again, and not much could compare to that.

"How do you want to do the blood thing?" he asked when the last vestiges of rumbling had faded away. "Wait. How are you even sure it's blood first, then the other stuff?"

Fai reached across the boundaries of the ritual circle, traced a finger along the cloth wrapping of Souhi's handle. "It's a fertility ritual, Kuro-rin. Of course the fertile body fluids come last."

"Blood is fertile," he pointed out. "In Nihon, they use pigs' blood to enrich the soil."

"Your people are barbarians." Fai took a slow sip of wine. Kurogane followed the drag of pink tongue across his lips, thought about tasting him.

"Where do you want to be cut?" he asked instead, studying the pale line of Fai's body. "On the wrist?"

"That would be an easy one, but you aren't going to get much blood out of it," Fai said. "The most effective way would be to use one of those syringes we've seen in the other worlds. Direct access to the bloodstream. Unfortunately, I don't think we have any with us."

"What then? Your elbow?" He reached over to take one of Fai's thin arms. The blond drew a slow breath; Kurogane rubbed a thumb along his forearm, following the green-blue veins just beneath the wizard's skin.

When he brought that arm up to his mouth and Fai still didn't pull away, he licked skin, tasted the sharp salt of dried sweat.

Fai went completely still. Kurogane pressed the flat of his tongue into the soft skin of Fai's elbow, felt the quick beat of his pulse there, and formed a seal around it with his lips. He sucked once, gently. Fai gasped, didn't meet his gaze, but he didn't have to look to know that he had all of the wizard's attention.

Kurogane scraped his teeth along skin, all the way down to Fai's wrist. There, he sucked wetly on Fai's pulse, and the blond shivered. "I'd still rather cut the wrist," he said against the ball of Fai's palm, breath puffing wetly. "Less cleanup."

"Yes." Fai's answer was a sharp hiss. He still wasn't looking when Kurogane unsheathed his sword with a slow rattle, guiding that pale forearm over the fifth circle.

He broke tender skin swiftly, careful not to cut into tendon. Crimson welled along the incision. Kurogane angled Fai's hand toward the circle, allowing thin blood to drip slowly down, dotting carved stone. It took a while for blood to pool; he swept his thumb over the veins to encourage blood flow, watching as the red grew to the size of a coin, and after a long while, into the size of his palm. When that happened, he turned the cut back up, licked it clean.

It tasted like copper. Kurogane was very slightly surprised by it, because Fai seemed so ethereal sometimes, with his wispy hair and liquid movements. (But he knew the wizard better, knew the way Fai arched and clenched and came, and there was nothing unearthly about _that_.)

Kurogane pulled away from Fai's arm, grabbed a wad of cloth to stem the bleeding. Fai didn't seem the least bit like he was hurting. "Thought you didn't like pain."

The wizard shrugged, smiled one of those narrow-eyed smiles that had Kurogane snorting. He wadded up a piece of cloth and used that to stem the blood flow, pressing down and counting.

"Forget it. Don't talk."

Blue eyes blinked at him; Fai's tongue darted out to wet his lips, and Kurogane's focus slipped. It sent heat scudding down his spine, that wet-rough tongue, when Fai licked him slow and wet and deliberate. He watched the way Fai stared at him through his lashes, grabbing for a strip of cloth and tying it tight around his wrist.

"Where— Where do you want to cut me?" he asked, barely getting the words out of his mouth. Fai blinked as if surprised, and took Souhi over, eyes sweeping over Kurogane.

Without speaking, he cradled one of Kurogane's hands, turned it facing up, and drew Souhi's blade over the tip of his thumb.

(Light crept over the fifth circle. The temple shook with an echoing _thoom_.)

Blood oozed out along that cut; Kurogane took his hand back, squeezed his thumb so it dripped into the sixth circle. This was far slower than Fai's cut had been. He hadn't thought the wizard would be that reluctant to hurt him, for how lethal he could be. Fai said nothing. When there was an equal volume of his blood spreading along the spiraling engravings, Fai took his hand, sucked his split thumb into his mouth.

It wasn't something the wizard had done before. His mouth was warm and wet, and Kurogane's thoughts took a sharper turn for the gutter, throbbing thumb or otherwise. He gulped, watched the way Fai's mouth worked around his finger, wished he had that further down.

Fai paused when Kurogane shifted to kneel before him. There was no hiding the press of his arousal beneath the thin blanket. It wasn't pitch-black here, however, and Kurogane knew that Fai much preferred doing this in the dark, where he could pretend that nothing was happening. (Like that really helped.)

He reached for the strips of fabric that Sakura had prepared, was stopped by Fai taking some to deftly bandage his thumb. When the wizard released him, he slipped the blindfold over wide blue eyes. Thin lips fell open; Fai did not move, and Kurogane brushed his hands past fine blond hair, tying layers of cloth securely behind Fai's head.

When he kissed Fai again, the wizard stiffened for a second. Then he leaned in, open-mouthed and needy, and Kurogane ran his palms down the sides of his face, tipping him up so their mouths meshed more thoroughly, tongues meeting and sliding, and Fai whimpered. The temple rang loud around them.

There was a longer stretch between the sixth circle and the seventh. He took his time kissing Fai, slow and gentle as he could make it—everything he needed Fai to know, that the idiot wouldn't accept.

Kurogane pulled the wizard onto his lap. The material of his blanket hitched up; he didn't care, allowed himself to press up and into Fai's thigh, grinding to soothe his ache. The blond sucked a shuddering breath, rocked his hips towards Kurogane so his own skirt loosened, hardly hiding anything at all.

He couldn't resist smoothing a hand up that thin chest, rubbing a nipple so Fai choked on a moan, hips snapping up at him. Kurogane knew that Fai had been hungry, and that made him hold back—he wanted to see how far he could push the wizard, to see how far he could go before Fai begged, or took Kurogane for himself.

A shiver of heat slid sweetly down his spine. Kurogane ran his hands along Fai's sides, lowered him down onto stone floor, kissed his way down that pale, smooth neck. Fai arched against him, nails skittering over stone. His breathing had gone shallow and quick; he was rolling his hips, asking to be touched where he strained against soft blanket. Kurogane reached into that makeshift skirt, felt his stomach jolt.

Fai was so very hard. That thought alone made him ache, made his touch linger along velvety flesh, stroking smooth skin and cupping soft balls, and Fai whined.

He caught Fai's wrists above his head, pinned them down, and licked down his chest, biting at a nipple. Fai arched, rocked his hips upward, grinding futilely into Kurogane's palm. He wasn't too far off from where Kurogane pressed against his own skirt, but Kurogane didn't allow him contact, instead licking over Fai's chest, following the shallow valley of his sternum back up to the hollow of his clavicles, curling his tongue in. Fai gasped.

The blanket fell loose around Fai's hips; Kurogane couldn't resist dragging his palm up along the flat planes of Fai's torso, up past coarse hair and the groove of his groin, to his lean abdomen and thin chest. Fai shivered, spread his legs beneath him, and Kurogane felt the press of his erection when he leaned in to kiss Fai again. That light pressure left a trail of slick along his belly. The wizard groaned, jerked his hips, and when that didn't distract Kurogane, he shifted his weight onto his feet, brought his hips up so his cock pushed insistently against hard muscle.

He felt all of Fai's desire in that touch, heat swooping past his stomach to pool between his legs. Kurogane caught his breath, pressed his palm on Fai's abdomen and pushed him back down to the floor, so the wizard whined and bucked, his body straining in protest. _If you could see yourself right now,_ Kurogane thought, but kept it to himself. Fai wouldn't appreciate this sight half as much as he did.

When he kissed Fai again, the wizard licked hungrily at him, his tongue rough and wanting, and he squirmed beneath Kurogane on the floor, a thin sheen of sweat prickling across his skin. There was so much need in Fai, and his whimpering was starting to get louder, his flushed erection leaking clear fluid onto himself.

With a growl, Kurogane reached down to tug his own skirt off. He needed touch, and it got slightly better when he angled his hips down, stroking his own cock along Fai's. The wizard mewled, hips bucking, and Kurogane reached down to curl his fist around them. Fai's moan was strangled; he thrust hungrily into Kurogane's palm, wet skin catching his, and Kurogane had to close his eyes momentarily at the pleasure that feathered through his body.

It still wasn't enough by far. Fai whined when he released both his wrists and their erections, grasping narrow hips instead. This time, Kurogane leaned in, ground them together _hard_ , and Fai's voice broke halfway through his groan. He tried rutting back, spine bowed, so their cocks dragged and pressed. It wasn't the best way to pleasure someone, with how he sometimes slid clean off, and it wasn't quite enough pressure besides, but it felt good, touching Fai intimately like this.

Fai was firm, solid heat stroking heavily against him. He slipped and drove along Kurogane's abdomen, trailing slick wetness, and Kurogane's stomach tightened. He wanted that inside him (his cock ached just thinking about it), and Fai appreciated any sort of touch, especially when it involved Kurogane between his legs. Kurogane pulled reluctantly away, slid further down to take Fai into his mouth. Fai was thick and heavy, and he thrust hungrily up, dripping slick onto Kurogane's tongue.

He hollowed his cheeks; Fai groaned and swore, hips bucking, almost choking Kurogane with his desperation.

It made him wet, this need. Kurogane could barely keep his thoughts on making Fai last, because he wanted to taste Fai's come, wanted to hear him cry out, and he couldn't think straight for the throbbing pressure at his groin.

He pulled off, curled a fist around Fai, licked down to his balls, and Fai thrashed beneath him, cock red and flushed and begging to be swallowed whole.

He couldn't hold back much longer. Kurogane sucked Fai back into his mouth, tasting every salty drop of wetness, and pressed a finger against the tight ring of his entrance.

Fai cried out, back flexing, head thrown back. Kurogane held still, tongue stroking across his tip so he felt every spurt of come, bitter and warm. When Fai fell limp against the stone floor, he pulled away, resisted the temptation to swallow, and turned to the seventh circle instead, emptying his mouth into it.

Fai's chest was heaving when he glanced back. There was one last circle to fill, an empty indent in an arc of drying fluids. He didn't care much about that, however. The wizard was stretched before him, sated, and all he really wanted was Fai.

Slowly, Kurogane crawled back to him, slipping his fingers beneath the wizard's head and lifting him up. The blindfold was still snug over Fai's eyes—he couldn't see, so it felt more like a secret when Kurogane leaned over to kiss him, soft and chaste.

Fai allowed the kiss, opening himself to Kurogane, and his hand came up to touch his cheek. It was surprisingly gentle; Kurogane's heart stuttered. He didn't want to stop this, when Fai was languid in his arms like that, allowing intimacies in his world of pretend. Fai could deny all he wanted—Kurogane was still kissing him, and this was real to one of them.

Thin fingers slipped down his jawline to his throat, tracing his collarbone down. Fai hesitated when he reached Kurogane's chest; it was as though he'd forgotten that he had a naked man with him, but that moment did not last. Kurogane kissed him again, and he sighed, trailed his fingers down his stomach, to the muscles of his abdomen.

It spoke of promise, that touch, and Kurogane could not help the quiver of his belly when Fai caressed him like that. His breath hitched; the back of Fai's hand brushed his erection, and Fai stilled again, as though struck by the fact that Kurogane was not only undressed, but also aroused.

He swallowed noisily, hesitated for a heartbeat, and curled his hand around him.

Kurogane released the breath he was holding—it came out in a rush—and tried not to move when Fai made his slow way along his length, to his tip, and back. Those fingers were very, very familiar with him by now; Fai could not hide knowing that it was him, or the entirety of what they'd done together, because he pressed firmly down with the pad of his thumb, all the way down the underside of his cock, and Kurogane had to stifle his curse.

Fai knew exactly what he liked, and it showed.

It showed in every sweep of his fingers, when he teased his head, to the way he stroked down the very middle of his balls, cupping them, to the way he rolled onto his knees, licking up the beaded wetness at his tip. Kurogane shivered, sat heavily down, because his legs were starting to shake just the slightest bit.

_Thoom._

He didn't bother glancing over at the seventh circle, and neither did Fai. Instead, Fai opened his mouth, breathed hot along Kurogane's entire length, and he gulped, lifting his hips. The motion pressed him against Fai's face. Rather than pull away, the wizard rubbed his cheek against his erection, and Kurogane had to bite his lip. The expression Fai wore wasn't tense at all. He'd seen this face, knew the way Fai's eyelids fluttered shut when he did this. (For all his issues with intimacy, Fai really, really liked sex.)

With the blindfold on, the wizard allowed himself to pretend just a little more. He parted those red, red lips of his and took Kurogane inside, and Kurogane swore, his stomach clenching. Fai's mouth was _wet_ and _good_ , and he couldn't help threading his fingers through wispy fine hair, trying not to push Fai down because he needed more (but Fai liked that, too).

He lost track of time with each slow slide of that mouth, until Fai pulled away and he was harder than ever, and in sheer need of something, of more.

Fai reached blindly up for him, slight fingers catching the back of his neck. Kurogane leaned in to kiss him again, groaned when his other hand fell, wrapped around him and _slid_.

He came with a rush of pleasure, Fai purring low in his throat, fingers dragging every drop of come from him, and Kurogane couldn't think for a long moment. His body was wound tight; he didn't know how much of that stuff had got onto Fai, and he wasn't particularly keen on pulling away, but he eventually did, when the wizard's mouth slowed and brushed away from his.

The sudden cool air was a shock against his body. He glanced blearily around, found the daub of sunlight inches from the last circle, and reached over for Fai, scooping up the drips of wetness that had dashed across his skin. The wizard remained still; Kurogane watched the careful way Fai held himself together, pulled away when he was done.

After all they'd been through in this world, wiping his fingers on carved stone was considerably uneventful.

"Thought there'd be more we had to do," he said, voice slightly rough. "Like the temple turns out to be a trap and we have to kill another damn worm."

To his side, Fai snorted. "Maybe some things can be easy, Kuro-tan. Not everything has to be hard."

Kurogane kept his mouth shut. He made a grab for the bottle of wine, downed a mouthful, and handed it over. Fai brightened when the cool glass kissed his fingers; he curled his hand around it, reached up to pull the blindfold off.

There was little else to do but wait. Kurogane wet another two pieces of cut blanket, tossed one over to the wizard, and set about wiping himself down. There had been remnants of dust on the floor of the ritual room, and dirt had caught on their sweaty skins while they were occupied.

"I hope the feather will just appear. Then we can take it and leave," Fai sighed. He was pulling his robe back onto himself—the princess had taken their clothes away for safekeeping, and Kurogane wished they'd left at least a pair of pants around. He didn't feel prepared to take on a giant worm, half-naked as he was. "Get Sakura-chan some medical attention."

"That," he said. "I want a bath. Or some clothes."

"Or a long shower. Mm." The wizard had cinched his robe tight around his waist, though the heavy material parted at his knees, and a sliver of pale calf peeked through. "It's so easy to get used to simple things. We haven't had a proper bath in months."

"Yeah." A bed would be nice, too, but knowing their luck, it was probably too much to hope for. He leaned back on his arm, took the wine back from Fai.

"Aren't you going to get dressed?" The idiot slanted a glance at him, looked away. It was the closest they'd come to discussing the sex at all, and Kurogane knew they wouldn't. "The children could see you, Kuro-rin. For shame."

He breathed a sigh, got up to pull a long strip of blanket back around his waist. Sunshine was a finger's width away from covering the entire eighth circle; the room was still and silent around them, dim with shadows, and Fai was draining the last of the wine.

Kurogane shrugged his cloak on—who knew if the kids would return his clothes in time—and watched as sunlight slipped fully over the final circle. Pearly fluid bubbled stickily.

_Thoom._

"That's weird as hell," he said. The rest of the fluids were in shadow, now. Their saliva had dried, and so had the patches of blood.

"So don't look." Fai set the bottle down, hugged his knees. His gaze was anchored somewhere across the room.

"Doesn't mean it didn't happen. The kids are gonna see—"

The temple began to rumble all around them. It was a deafening roar, so loud that Kurogane winced. The stones vibrated beneath their feet; dust shook free from the ceiling, sifting down like the thin sand in an hourglass. Fai scrambled up in a hurry, looking around. "The children!"

Kurogane snatched his sword up, squinted through the dust. Would they still find the feather if he destroyed the temple? "They're fine," he said. "Incoming."

Sakura and Syaoran burst through the doors a moment later, harried and wide-eyed. Mokona was tucked into the neck of Syaoran's shirt; the boy glanced around the room, sagging slightly when he caught sight of Kurogane and Fai.

"Hang on tight to those clothes," Kurogane said to the princess, who hugged the bundle in her arms tighter. "And get behind me."

The kids wobbled as they crossed the room; Fai stepped out of the circle, ushering them closer. There was a ear-splitting _crack_.

Above, clouds dragged over the skylight, cutting off the stream of light. The room was cast in darkness.

"Did the ritual end?" Syaoran asked, glancing up. "I read that it's supposed to rain after, but it's all desert out, and—"

"Quiet," Kurogane said, stretching his senses out. There was nothing around the temple. The sandstorm outside had not made its way in, and they were still safe. For now.

A hole had opened up some yards away, one that Fai was heading towards. Kurogane trusted that the wizard had the sense to move away in the face of danger. Even so, he couldn't help but keep a cautious eye on Fai, ready to spring in case he wasn't able to react quickly enough.

"Stay close to me," he told the kids. They turned their faces in his direction.

He remembered that they couldn't see in the dark, and grabbed the princess's hand, pushing it into Syaoran's. That done, Kurogane took Sakura's other hand, heading them off towards Fai, careful to lead them away from the hollowed circles in the floor.

"Mokona senses the feather!"

When he looked back at the wizard, all he saw was a stretch of empty floor. There wasn't time to react. Pale hair popped out of the crack the next moment, smeared with dirt.

"I have the feather," Fai said. He pulled his hand out of the crack, and there, glowing a soft pinkish-white, was the tapered triangle of the princess's memory. The kids gasped.

Kurogane strode forward with half a mind to haul the wizard to his feet. Fai managed on his own, however. He found his footing on the ritual room floor, straightened to his full height, and extended the feather towards Syaoran.

"It's your journey, after all," Fai said.

It didn't really make sense to Kurogane—Fai could return the feather to Sakura himself. He was important to the kids. Syaoran wouldn't mind.

But Fai would. Fai didn't want any of these connections, even if they had been forged, and even if he was steadfastly ignoring them.

"You found the feather though, Fai-san," the boy said earnestly. "You and Kurogane-san did the ritual for it."

The idiot gaped at him, mouth hanging open. Sakura stepped forward.

"Syaoran-kun is right." She smiled at Fai, cupping her hands together awkwardly, arms still full of clothes. She took the feather gently from Fai's frozen fingers. "Thank you."

They watched as the feather sank through the clothes into her chest. The princess fell forward; Kurogane stooped at the same time Syaoran moved forward to catch her, easing her into the boy's arms.

"I'll take the clothes," he said. Even if they didn't have time to put it on, he felt better for having them in his grasp.

"Time to go, everyone," Mokona cried. She soared into the air, glowing wings spreading from her back.

Kurogane felt the thin fingers curling into his forearm before he saw Fai. The wizard wasn't looking at him, huddled around Syaoran and Sakura as he was, but he hung on tightly to Kurogane all the same, afraid of another separation.

On his end, Kurogane grabbed on to the boy's shoulder, just in case. They could go without being lost for a while, and they could all use a hot shower.

He closed his eyes and hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things to mention about this arc:
> 
> 1\. Harasa is a play on Sahara, if you guys haven't figured it out yet ;)  
> 2\. Fertility ritual was inspired by a prompt on clampkink. (Yours truly is a troll. I didn't think it was a suitable ending at first, but HEY. My real purpose in life is to make crack not seem like crack. LOL) The ritual itself was partly inspired by the drum beats and mood in "Kaze no Machi e".  
> 3\. Time is a theme touched on sparingly in this arc. :) It's in the title - the sand actually refers both to the sand in the desert, as well as the sand in an hourglass.  
> 4\. If you never realized it - the entire point of this arc was to get everyone so miserable that everybody had to sing together. ;)  
> 5\. Next arc is Piffle.
> 
> And a few writerly things:
> 
> 1\. We will be pausing this series for a couple months or so while I post my kurofai AU, titled **more than a thousand times no**. Look out for it starting next Thurs/Fri. :) It actually will be a nice break for me - shorter chapters, different style - because editing 9k-word chapters in 1-2 sittings is really a pain, and  
>  2\. I really need to start writing/publishing original fic/books. I'm not sure if I'm really good enough for that yet, but I kind of need something back for putting my writing out there, and fandom is starting to not cut it anymore.
> 
>  **tldr;** I hope you guys enjoyed this arc, stay tuned for Piffle, and look out for the modern AU starting next week!

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the thought, 'what if I put the Tsubasa family in a Jeep?' (Yes, the "car" is a Jeep JK. To Kurogane and co., it's just a car. ;) I know what you Jeep people are saying. LOL Husband and I own a Mini and a Jeep, and the Mini has already starred in 'when flight falls short'.) We have also gone on multiple trips out to the desert... so I figured that it would be the perfect setting for an arc. Special thanks goes out to _expiration_ on FFN, who helped brainstorm the unfortunate events that will be going ino this fic ;)
> 
> To those of you who are interested, I will be posting photo sets of different deserts on my invisible-as-i-run tumblr (pics taken during our road trips) as a complement to this fic. Plus previews, etc, but you already knew that. ;)
> 
> Currently writing 4th chapter of this fic.. I haven't found as much motivation somehow, and so have been writing slowly. :( If you have any thoughts and/or comments, feel free to share them!


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